More than a million Australians stream video online, watching no live broadcast TV.

The findings – from a Roy Morgan Single Source survey – include those who watch ‘catch-up’ TV online or via tablets and mobiles.

Media and communications general manager George Pesutto says the times have changed since people worked around television scheduling to watch their TV show of choice: “Since September 2010, the proportion of Australians streaming or downloading TV, movie or video content online and not watching live broadcast TV at all has doubled, to six per cent of the population – or 1.2 million people,” he says.

The trend is related to two larger trends: the increase in Australians streaming or downloading video, TV and movies online – from 36 per cent to 53 per cent of the population – and the growing percentage who choose not to watch any live broadcast TV (ten per cent, up from six per cent).

“More and more, Australians are either complementing or replacing their consumption of live broadcast TV with streamed content,” Pesutto says.

Streaming vs. live broadcast: how Aussies consume TV in an average 4 week-period

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2010–September 2013, 6 month rolling average n=9,794.

In the chart above, viewers who ‘stream or download videos/TV/movies’ include those who access free-to-air catch-up services online (ABC iView, Yahoo! 7 TV, Nine’s Jump-In, SBS On Demand and tenplay) as well as those who stream or download content from iTunes, Youtube or other online sources.

Drilling down into the types of online content that Australians are streaming and downloading, our data shows that in the six months to September 2013, 17 per cent of Australians streamed TV, including free-to-air (FTA), in an average four-week period, while 45 per cent used YouTube, and 28 per cent streamed video.

Australians’ online consumption of video/TV/movies in an average 4-week period

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2013 – September 2013, n=9,812.

Says Pesutto, “More and more Australians are choosing alternative ways of accessing television such as streaming or downloading the TV content of their choice online. This includes catch-up and streaming services offered by local TV broadcasters that allow viewers to watch in their own time and schedule.

“What’s more, Netflix and YouTube now account for 50 per cent of all North American Fixed Network data consumption – almost certainly an indication of the potential future growth of video streaming in Australia.

“Interestingly, professionals are 61 per cent more likely than the average Australian to stream or download TV content online while consuming no live broadcast TV. It’s possible their time-poor lifestyles make them more selective of the content they consume.

“Streamers who don’t watch live broadcast TV are also less likely than the average Australian to consume traditional forms of media such as newspapers and magazines. Over a third of them, however, are heavy cinema goers (going to the movies more than twice in an average three months), making them much more likely than the average Australian to visit the cinema.”