Entertainment on our terms: the case for personalization

The 2014 ARRIS Consumer Entertainment Index reveals that content personalization, access, and control is not only growing in popularity among consumers, but is a vital pathway for the evolution of entertainment.

Sandy Howe, SVP Global Marketing

This year, we surveyed 10,500 people from 19 countries to get a pulse on how people around the world are engaging with content. Here’s what we found:

Mobile device usage around the world is growing exponentially. These devices are increasingly more powerful, personalized, and connected. That, combined with better access to high-speed broadband is fueling a new multiscreen ecosystem. The result is a fundamental change in what people expect from their entertainment.

In short: consumers want entertainment on their terms – the ability to control what they watch, when they watch it, and where.

This is a natural outgrowth of the connected lifestyle enabled by services like DVR and OTT, but now we’re seeing consumers take the next step towards personalized and boundary-less entertainment. It represents a global opportunity to develop services, features, networks, and experiences that not only align with these trends, but anticipate the way they will evolve.

Here are some of the more poignant findings from this year’s study:

Broadcast TV is here to stay

• 96% of global respondents watch at least 1-5 hours of Broadcast TV each week.

The living room remains the center for entertainment, but consumers are branching out with mobile devices

• 41% now use tablets in the bedroom, 22% in the kitchen
• 40% use smartphones in the bedroom, 25% in the kitchen

Binge TV-viewing is at an all-time high

• 80% have binge-viewed content. One in four 25-34 year-olds binge-view once a week.

Traditional TV advertising is irritating, but storage is a bigger concern, and second-screen merchandising may be the next way in

• 60% download or record a TV program just to skip the ads

• 62% of those interested in using a remote storage solution would watch a few ads in exchange for room to save their content

• 30% used second screens to buy an item featured on the TV program they’re watching

For the full results, visit www.arrisi.com/arriscei.

We’ve reached a global inflection point in how we deliver entertainment that truly engages consumers. Service providers have an unprecedented opportunity to address the many ways that people are consuming and interacting with content on a variety of devices, across the home, and around the world.

ARRIS has a long history of uniting the technology, expertise, and innovation to anticipate tomorrow’s consumers. We’re collaborating with our customers, partners, and industry to succeed in this new era of entertainment. Together, we are inventing the future.