Netflix no threat to pay-TV, but 34% use internet streaming

A survey by the Malta Communications Authority showed that 34% of respondents made use of internet television services such as Netflix, or Vimeo and YouTube in 2017; a 19% decline from 2015 figures.

Only 10% of respondents said they would consider internet services as a substitute for local pay-TV, indicating pay-TV services were the best way of meeting their daily viewing needs.

The findings emerged following a pay-TV and broadcasting consumer perceptions survey the MCA carried out between November and December 2017.

Pay-TV bundle subscriptions rose to 67% in 2017, while only 1% relied solely on free-to-air services, a decrease from the 4% recorded in 2015.

A staggering 99% of Maltese households had a TV set at home, the findings showed, with more than half having two, and around a quarter having three sets or more.

Around 67% said at least one of their TVs was a high-definition set.

Amongst those with pay-TV, 21% also had an IPTV-Android box, but just 3% of those with pay-TV had access to satellite-TV.

Those using internet services mainly used it to watch films and TV series (65%).

Malta’s consumer base appears to be highly satisfied, with 79% of respondents in 2017 saying they were happy with their pay-TV subscription – a rise from the 77% of 2015.

However, the findings indicated that only 45% of respondents knew how much they spent every month on their service. Purchasing service bundles was cited as the main reason for this lack of knowledge.

Half of those who were aware of their spending described their costs as reasonable.

Only 4% of respondents reported switching between pay-TV service providers in 2017, and a large majority of those who claimed they were not happy claimed they would still not switch to another provider.

The survey, carried out by Grant Thornton using telephone interviews, involved 906 randomly selected residential users distributed amongst Malta’s six regions across different socio-economic categories.