Kiwis think streaming services offer value for money
Auckland, Date. 21 March 2018. Streaming may be the ‘new kid on the block’ when it comes to how we watch TV but Kiwis
can’t get enough of it.
Global media company, Forbs, recently calculated that globally over 140million of hours of Netflix TV was watch every
single day. With the probability that Kiwis are part of this trend, it’s hard to believe that streaming services in New
Zealand have been available for less than four years. But, in this relatively short space of time content, levels of
service and prices have improved so dramatically that a recent Canstar Blue survey revealed 69% of Kiwis think their
streaming service offers value for money – a meteoric rise from the 5% of customers who thought so at this time last
year.
Canstar Blue general manager Jose George comments:
“The number of streaming service providers and the resulting choice and flexibility they offer has opened up a whole new
world to consumers. Until relatively recently our TV choice was terrestrial TV, or paid service, Sky. One was generally
thought to offer limited choice and the other often hit the headlines over pricing.
“In contrast streaming services continue to evolve, offering exclusive TV series on standard or HD services at a
fraction of the cost, sometimes even free. You don’t have to scratch too deep to see why there’s been such a surge in
consumer sentiment.”
What’s feeding our desire for streaming?
As already mentioned, price and choice are two things that are often talked about and the colossal rise in customers
saying their service offers value for money suggest this to be true. But behind the big-ticket shows such as Stranger
Things, Orange Is The New Black and old favourites such as Breaking Bad, there’s been a lot happening to make it quicker
and easier for us to download our top shows.
Since 2014New Zealand has seen[i]:
· $6.63billion invested in telecoms
· Fixed wireless and satellite connections rise from 24,000 to 122,000
· Total fixed broadband connections rise form 1.41million to 1.58million
In addition, New Zealand currently boasts fixed broadband average download speeds[ii] of 14.7mbps (megabytes per
second), comparing favourably to the 11.1mbps our cousins across the ditch in Australia enjoy.
George continues:
“Evidently, Kiwis love the internet and the services it allows us to tap into and it’s great that we’re enjoying better,
faster services that have enhanced our streaming experiences.
“Unfortunately, our survey also found that although we rate value for money highly, when it comes to our broadband
services, 42% of people have got no idea how much data they are using. This means they’re not able to calculate if they
are getting a good deal with their provider and if there are potential savings to be made.
“If streaming is important to you, a rule of thumb is around 1GB of data per hour of viewing but this rises to 3GB if
you’re watching in HD.”
Most Satisfied Customers
Unsurprisingly, value for money, along with network performance rated most highly on the drivers of consumers
satisfactions with their broadband provider. Skinny was the only provider to rate a maximum five stars on these, as well
as all other categories and is this year announced the Canstar Blue Customer Satisfaction Award winner.
Accepting the Award, Skinny Brand Manager, Ally Young commented:
‘The broadband industry is extremely competitive with over 100 brands in the game, so we are absolutely thrilled to be
recognised as providing New Zealand with a top-notch product and service. The best part is, we’ve been voted by those
that count - our customers.
For further information regarding this survey and broadband providers, please click here.
ENDS