Devices

Participants in the survey were asked to indicate their preferred device for a number of activities. For watching live TV, streaming films and TV series and watching TV programmes via catch-up services, TV was the preferred device across all age categories. Mobile phones were the preferred device for reading the news, also across all age groups.

When it came to watching short videos, mobile phones were the preferred device across all age groups except 55-64s, who preferred laptops, and over-65s, who preferred tablets. For playing games, all age groups preferred to use a mobile phone except for 18-24s, who preferred to use a gaming console, and over-65s, who preferred to use a tablet.

The survey also found that the use of smartphones for watching video was significantly higher among the 18-24 age group. 36% of all participants said that they use their mobile phone to watch short videos, live posts and stories; this rose to 63% for 18-24s. 32% of all participants said they use their mobile phone to watch videos shared on instant messaging networks, rising to 46% for 18-24s; 21% of all participants use their mobile phone to watch live streams, rising to 48% for 18-24s; 17% of all participants use their mobile phone to stream films or TV series, rising to 37% for 18-24s.

Participants in the survey were also asked what connected devices they own or have access to. 58% of Irish consumers have a smart TV, up 9% since 2019. 34% have a games console (down by 1%); 33% have a video streaming device that connects to their television (no change since 2019); 28% have wireless speakers (up 3%); 22% have a set-top box or video recorder that is internet-connected (down 3%). Voice-assisted speakers saw the biggest increase, up 10% year-on-year to 22%.

Netflix remained the most popular VOD subscription service with 56% of respondents having a Netflix subscription, up 2% on 2019, while Prime Video saw the biggest year-on-year increase with 18% (up 9%). These were followed in popularity by Disney+, which was launched in 2020, at 19% and Now TV at 8% (up 3%).

While the quality of content on these platforms has increased over the years, given that the survey was conducted in May – June 2020 during and post the first lockdown it would appear to have drawn in more subscribers.

46% of participants had access to a music streaming service, up 4% on 2019. Spotify was the most popular music streaming service at 33%, up 2% on 2019. This was followed by Amazon Music at 9% (up 4%) and Apple Music at 8% (up 1%).

30% had access to a newspaper or magazine subscription, a decrease of 2% year-on-year.

Over the same period there was a marginal decline in consumers who had access to set-top boxes decreasing from 25% to 22%.

Participants were asked to consider whether they would be happy to pay half price for a VOD subscription service if that meant they would have to watch some ads. A third (33%) said that they would prefer to pay the full subscription fee and not have to watch ads. 28% reported that they would be happy to watch some ads if they could get a subscription for half price.

Younger respondents were notably less tolerant of ads, with 47% of 18-24s and 48% of 25-34s preferring to pay full price for no ads.