A new study shows that, as competition within the streaming industry continues to grow, the new service streamers choose likely depends on their age.
A report from Ampere Analysis looked at two of the newest streaming services, HBO Max and Peacock, to find out which demographics are drawn to the content delivered by each service. The report shows that 8% of US households are subscribed to HBO Max, which launched in May. 7% of US households are subscribed to Peacock, which launched shortly after in July.
According to a survey conducted by Ampere, HBO Max is more popular among younger viewers, with subscribers 50% more likely to be in the 25-44 age bracket than the sample average. The Peacock audience skews slightly older with a primary market of 35-44 year olds. When it comes to viewers 55 and older, 19% of Peacock subscribers are in the older age range while 6% of HBO Max subscribers fall into the over 55 age range.
“Peacock’s early adopters show that it has been successful in converting broadcast channel audiences — who are an older demographic and typically more difficult to convert — into SVoD subscribers, allowing it to play in an arena that is generally less competitive,” said Annabel Yeomans, Senior Analyst. “HBO Max has yet to diversify its audience away from that of the HBO premium channel — whose mix of high-end Drama, Comedy and Documentaries have a particular demographic appeal — but the array of new family and scripted series are aimed at doing precisely this.”
As the study points out, HBO Max has focused on adding more family friendly content from brands like Looney Tunes and Sesame Street, while Peacock has been building a library of documentaries and reboots of popular shows that might appeal to an older audience.