As part of our ongoing YouthMedia2010 project we recently engaged a highly targeted segment of the Youth Trends proprietary panel to garner feedback related to the topic of premium online content, which these days seems to be one of the big questions/challenges for all of the major media companies.
The results of the immersion strongly indicate that it will be an uphill battle for most. But with that said, there are glimmers of hope for a few of the categories. The inherent challenge is the fact that really with only just a handful of exceptions, the free model is the only model this audience is accustomed to. If they wanted to stream an episode of "The Office" they simply went NBC.com or staying more current with recent online video trends, they headed over to Hulu. Turning that model on its head and asking the audience to pay for something they've been doing for free for the last couple of years is a pretty tough sell. What we also found of interest was the delta in audience interest against various pricing points, which can also be considered moderately promising.
Agree completely: 14%
Agree somewhat: 18%
Not sure: 24%
Disagree somewhat: 15%
Disagree completely: 29%
"If a TV show I was interested in streaming was no longer available for free, I would pay $1.99 to stream it."
Agree completely: 8%
Agree somewhat: 11%
Not sure: 19%
Disagree somewhat: 16%
Disagree completely: 46%
"If a movie I was interested in streaming was no longer available for free, I would pay $4.99 to stream it."
Agree completely: 12%
Agree somewhat: 9%
Not sure: 20%
Disagree somewhat: 22%
Disagree completely: 37%
"If a movie I was interested in streaming was no longer available for free, I would pay $9.99 to stream it."
Agree completely: 4%
Agree somewhat: 7%
Not sure: 14%
Disagree somewhat: 19%
Disagree completely: 56%
"If a newspaper site I visited regularly was no longer available for free, I would pay $1.99 a month to access all of the most recent articles and features as well as an archive of past articles and features."
Agree completely: 6%
Agree somewhat: 7%
Not sure: 15%
Disagree somewhat: 11%
Disagree completely: 61%
"If a newspaper site I visited regularly was no longer available for free, I would pay $4.99 a month to access all of the most recent articles and features as well as an archive of past articles and features."
Agree completely: 5%
Agree somewhat: 3%
Not sure: 7%
Disagree somewhat: 7%
Disagree completely: 78%
"If a magazine site I visited regularly was no longer available for free, I would pay $1.99 month to access all of the most recent articles and features."
Agree completely: 3%
Agree somewhat: 6%
Not sure: 17%
Disagree somewhat: 12%
Disagree completely: 62%
"If a magazine site I visited regularly was no longer available for free, I would pay $4.99 month to access all of the most recent articles and features."
Agree completely: 3%
Agree somewhat: 1%
Not sure: 12%
Disagree somewhat: 8%
Disagree completely: 76%