Delayed consumption, key for fiction content, grows 20% in three years

91% of individuals who consume time-shifted in 2019 receive pay TV. A daily average of 3.5 million viewers have consumed some delayed content during 2019. More than half of delayed viewing is done between the same day and the day after the linear broadcast.

The consumption of delayed television content is located within a ascending trend in the last 4 years, contrary to what happens with linear television viewing. Viewers who have watched at least one minute of time-shifted viewing have grown significantly since Kantar Media began measuring this consumption in February 2015. According to analysis carried out by GECA, the increase in this type of consumption has been constant year after year, increasing by 20% between 2017 and 2019.

Several factors influence the progressive increase in this type of consumption. The changes in viewer habits It is one of these factors, and everything indicates that delay will gain more weight in the coming years in certain types of content such as fiction. The progressive delay in the start time of prime time star content in the main chains is another factor that favors this activity, as was already evident in the first issue of the GECA Report. A third factor is the increase, for the sixth consecutive year, in pay television in Spain. The growing offer of operators, together with the marketing of packages that combine television with other services such as telephone or internet and the use of shared keys, has favored the fact that currently 48.3% of Spanish households that consume television receive payment.

Pay television, a key factor

The percentage of Spanish households with the capacity to watch delayed content in 2019 has already reached 87%, which represents an increase of 34.5 points compared to 2012, when this variable began to be measured. This increase derives from the increase in paying subscribers, with the consequent implementation in more homes of decoders with hard disk and with the 'Last 7 days' function, and of the popularization of Smart TVs and devices to play on-demand content applications.

Despite this increasing trend, GECA's analysis shows that this type of viewing still represents a small part of the total consumption of minutes. Of the 214 minutes on average that a Spaniard spends watching TV per day in 2019, only 7 minutes belong to time-shifted television consumption. This figure rises to 9 minutes in the target group of 45 to 64 years.

If these minutes are translated into contacts (views of at least one minute) we observe that, during 2019, An average of 3.5 million viewers have consumed some time-shifted content daily. In the period between January and September 2019, the data has increased by 6% compared to the same period in 2018. According to GECA research, 91% of these contacts come from viewers who receive a payment platform in their homes.

In the study of these contacts by targets, it is evident that the greatest differences in this type of viewing are found in the segmentations by age groups. Those under 45 years of age account for 48% of deferred consumption compared to the 42% that these viewers represent in linear consumption. At the opposite pole are those over 65 years of age, who continue to consume linear television (24%) much more intensely than time-shifted television (15%).

By Autonomous Communities, Madrid is the leading territory in deferred consumption with 19% of the total, followed by Andalusia (16.5%) Catalonia (16%). This represents a change in trend with respect to the distribution of the linear audience, in which Andalusia leads with 18% ahead of Catalonia (16%) and Madrid (13%).

By breaking down viewing by days of the week, The weekend has the highest number of contacts of the deferred in all slots except prime time. It seems logical to think that the greater amount of timeshift consumption on weekends during various periods is due to the increase in leisure time during those days. Consumption is most common on Sundays, and gradually increases until reaching its peak in prime time.

In 2019, there is a particular case with deferred consumption in prime time on Mondays, the day on which the great phenomenon of Game of Thrones. This series was broadcast online in the early hours of Sunday to Monday on Movistar Series, so its majority viewing seems to be delayed on Monday night.
The change in the viewing model also brings differences in how television content is consumed, as can be seen from the analysis carried out by GECA. The possibility of being able to choose when to watch content means that it is consumed more as a couple or in groups than when television is watched online. In all targets by sex and age, individual consumption of content decreases when it is delayed. In the youngest targets (4-24 years old), group consumption increases, while in those over 25 what gains the most is consumption as a couple when we focus on consumption outside broadcast hours.

Fiction: the preferred delayed genre

Observing the 30 most-watched broadcasts since they began to be measured in February 2015, it can be concluded that the first 24 correspond to the fiction genre. More specifically, the favorite type of viewers who use this viewing option is series.

If we do not focus on the current season (2019/20, until October 15), series like Malacca y I'm alive They are positioned at the top of the ranking with a contribution of the deferred that exceeds 20%, which reflects the upward trend of this type of consumption.

In the GECA report, notable differences can also be seen in what deferred consumption represents in the total audience of fiction between the different types of channels. Thus, while among the general channels the increase does not exceed 20% of the linear audience, in the DTT Thematics it represents up to 50% of the total audience and in the pay channels it becomes the majority type of consumption.

As far as entertainment formats are concerned, culinary reality shows are experiencing the most growth when delayed consumption is added. Formats like Masterchef o Sewing masters son los más influidos por este comportamiento, condicionados posiblemente por su perfil más familiar. El aumento de audiencia de estos programas de prime time -al incluir el consumo fuera de su horario de emisión- suele rondar entre el 15% y el 20%, según el estudio llevado a cabo por GECA.

Considerando que se mide el consumo en diferido hasta 7 días después de la emisión lineal, cabe destacar que casi la mitad del total de visionados en ficción se produce entre el mismo día de emisión o el día siguiente. Por ejemplo, en las series de cadenas en abierto como La Caza Monteperdido o The one that is coming se observa que el consumo el día después es ligeramente superior al del mismo día. Son series con una hora de inicio tardía (22:45 horas), por lo que tiene sentido que la mayoría del consumo se haga el día después. El caso de Game of Thrones esta temporada es más particular; una serie cuyo primer pase se emitía en la madrugada del domingo al lunes y con una gran expectación social. Estos dos factores favorecen que el 65% de su consumo en diferido se hiciera el mismo lunes.