At some point everyone realized that this whole internet thing wasn’t just a fad. It would forever be a way we communicate. And if we’re not quite there yet with streaming, we are right on the edge.
There may still be some people clinging to the idea that streaming will fade like slap bracelets and Beanie Babies, but in ten years we will wonder how people ever watched television without streaming services.
Hulu understands this, especially after their new study titled Generation Stream.
This study of 2500 people was just recently announced, and it aims to release multiple findings all about what the streaming culture looks like today and what it may look like in the near future.
Their topline finding is that over 90% of people 13-54 have at least one streaming service and there are only signs of that increasing. But they also went deeper by identifying four distinct kinds of streaming viewers, and you may feel like you’ve been all of them at one time or another.
There is the “Therapeutic Streamer,” which is what you are when you throw on The Office or Friends or Seinfeld. You want something comforting that you already know and love. This is the largest group, which probably doesn’t surprise you.
Then there is the “Classic Streamer,” who tend to watch TV with a partner/spouse or family around the same time every day. This may be due to the habits of how primetime was once such an integral part of our lives and also because it’s pretty nice to have that little activity together. This is the second largest group.
Then we get into the “Indulgent Streamer.” This is your binge watcher who blows through a whole show in one weekend. If you live alone and skew older then you may be doing this more than just every time another season of Stranger Things drops.
And finally, “Curated Streamers” are people who are watching the shows that are blowing up Twitter feeds and are at the center of every hot take. This is the smallest group and is also aimed at those who are the youngest demo, because who wants to be left out when all your friends are doing it?
So seeing these distinct groups raises the very important question of how does a streaming service capitalize on this data? The natural answer is to use AI.
By isolating these specific cohorts, a platform like Resonance AI can be used to determine what about their viewing habits can be used to create more content that appeals to them. But, if these cohorts are focused on specific kinds of content, then Resonance AI can be used to figure out what content outside of their tastes may still have an impact.
To explain further, if a streamer is able to look at their content by these four categories, then they are able to analyze the elements of these shows for what is truly resonating. This would then allow them to find the other content they have, or are considering having, and feel more confident pushing it to each of these cohorts.
This kind of library optimization can only get so far without knowing what is truly inside the content and what is actually impacting the audience, and with AI it's all about efficiency, enabling decisions to be made quickly and confidently.
The future of streaming is bright, but there are plenty of questions that have yet to be answered. And whether you’re the kind of streamer that could be considered Classic, Indulgent, Curated or Therapeutic, AI can help you break find that content you didn’t know you were waiting for.
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