Over Half of Young People Would Pay Up to $50 to Stream a Theatrical Release


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While streaming overall saw a pretty big boost thanks to the current pandemic, a somewhat new area of streaming also saw a huge rise in popularity – premium video on demand, or a new theatrical release that’s also available at home. 

Not surprisingly, young people are leading the way. What is surprising though is the price tag they’d accept.

According to data from Hub Entertainment Research, over 60% of people aged 18-34 would be willing to pay extra to stream a just released movie. That interest is virtually non-existent in older users though, with only 12% of people above the age of 35 showing any interest, and a paltry 2% saying they “definitely” would. 

Perhaps more interesting though is just how much people would be willing to pay. Among the 18-34 age subset, 25% definitely would stream a new movie if the price point was $15, while 42% probably would. Raise the price to $25, and 15% still definitely would and 51% probably would. But even if you double that price to $50 a stream, a solid 21% of people say they’d still definitely be interested and 36% probably would. 

So even at an eye-popping $50 a stream, over half of young people are still paying to watch. 

But if you start breaking down numbers, the decision makes sense. The average movie ticket these days has eclipsed $10 a person, so by the time you simply get two people in the door, you’re probably above $25. Add in some drinks and snacks and you’re probably pretty close to the $50 mark. 

With a personal stream in home though, you can make it a communal experience with friends and have far more than two people watching. So while you’re not getting theater quality video and sound, for a group of three or more this could easily be a money-saving endeavor. 

Peter Fondulas, principal at Hub and a co-author of this study, said that a struggling theater industry is most certainly keeping track of this trend. “For younger movie fans, the strong preference for streaming for TV and first-run movies, has the potential to fundamentally shift entertainment.“ 

This data comes from the “Monetizing Video” study conducted by Hub in June of 2020. 2,036 U.S. broadband customers aged 16-74 who watch at least 1 hour of TV per week took part.

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