Substitutability between Online Video Platforms and Television

Abstract

Given the rising popularity of online video platforms in recent years, this study addresses the plausible cannibalization effect of online video platforms on television. It does so by examining the perceived substitutability between online video platforms and television. A national survey revealed differences between online video platforms and television in terms of consumer motivations for video content consumption. Non-users of online video platforms are also more likely than users of online video platforms to perceive online video platforms as a substitute for television.

Online video services and other media: Substitutes or complement

“…With only 24 h in a day, people have finite time to spend on media activities (Cha, 2013;Cha & Chan-Olmsted, 2012;Dutta-Bergman, 2004;Kayany & Yelsma, 2000;Kaye & Johnson, 2003;Mutz, Roberts, & Vuuren, 1993). Thus, the more time audiences spend on a new medium, the less time they will have for other media.…”

“…Audiences select and use specific media or content to gratify specific needs and purposes (Levy & Windahl, 1984;Perse, 1990;Rosengren & Windahl, 1972;Rubin, 1983). If new media fulfill needs and purposes similar to those fulfilled by an old medium, the new media are likely to replace the old medium (Cha & Chan-Olmsted, 2012;Levy & Windahl, 1984;Perse, 1990;Rosengren & Windahl, 1972;Rubin, 1983). Ferguson and Perse (2000) observed that the web can serve as a functional alternative to TV because audiences use the web for entertainment, to pass the time, and for relaxation-also the motives for watching TV.…”

“…It is hypothesized that when a new medium is functionally similar to the old media and has functional advantages over the old media, the new medium will displace the old media (Cha, 2013;Cha & Chan-Olmsted, 2012). Studies on media displacement or supplementation have been based on the uses and gratifications theory, which holds that audiences actively choose specific media or content (Atkin & Jeffres, 1998;Ferguson & Perse, 2000;Lin, 1996;Morris & Ogan, 1996).…”

“…Studies focusing on media substitution at the individual level have examined the displacement effect in terms of the functional displacement and the time displacement (Cha & Chan-Olmsted, 2012;Kayany & Yelsma, 2000;Kaye & Johnson, 2003).…”

Multi-Platform Television and Business Models: A Babylonian Clutter of Definitions and Concepts

“…Overall, worldwide audience reach of linear TV is still strong: more than 75 per cent of global consumers watch linear TV every day and the actual viewing time is the highest ever measured (Giersberg, 2014). However, several effects of online TV consumption can be noted: timeshifted TV content consumption, substitution of TV content by content from online video platforms, and consumption of TV content on computers (Jones, 2012: 7;Böhm et al, 2012: 4;Cha and Chan-Olmested, 2012). Especially younger age groups consume online video regularly indicating that media usage patterns change more across generations than on an ad hoc basis (Rhody et al, 2014: 49;van Eimeren and Frees, 2014a: 388-90).…”