Young Kiwis admit to unauthorised streaming and downloads

Almost half of young New Zealanders admit to unauthorised streaming of TV programmes and almost a third indulge in unauthorised downloading of movies.

Those are among the findings of Colmar Brunton’s 2014 survey on youth trends which looks at the habits of Kiwi youth when it comes to music, technology and TV / films. A national spread of 16-29 year olds completed the online survey.

Spencer Willis, Head of Qual and Youth Specialist at Colmar Brunton says while more than 50% of those surveyed use traditional sources for watching TV (free to air TV 77%, pay TV 50%), accessing TV programmes online is common place for most.

“The survey tells us the 69% watch TV on demand but the next most popular online TV sources are unauthorised streaming and downloading.”

A significant 44% of those surveyed admit to unauthorised streaming, with 15% citing this as their main source of TV programmes. More than a quarter (27%) are into unauthorised downloading of TV programmes.

“Authorised streaming (11%) and downloading (10%) are far less popular which shows that many of our young New Zealanders are bypassing the likes of iTunes in favour of less legitimate sources,” Mr Willis says.

The story is similar when it comes to movies. While 83% of those surveyed go to the cinema significant numbers are streaming (36%) or downloading (31%) unauthorised material.

“More than half of those who admit to unauthorised downloads (17%) say that is their main source of films, which is not far behind those who list the cinema is their main source (24%).”

Online channels are popular for music as well.

“You can see why the bargain bins are full of CDs when almost two thirds (58%) of those surveyed said they had not bought one in the past year.”

You Tube is an almost universally popular source for listening to music with 87% of those surveyed saying they use it followed by their personal music collections (81%). Spotify has also made an impact with 43% of young Kiwis surveyed using that source.

When it comes to using technology to communicate with family and friends, the survey revealed that text messaging is almost three times as popular as the traditional voice call amongst youth in this country.

It is the most popular communication method for 46% of those surveyed compared to just 16% who prefer a voice call.

“Phone app based instant messaging - such as WhatsApp, Snapchat and Facebook messenger - is not far behind voice calling as a preferred communication method with social media desktop sites and apps also playing a role in replacing the traditional phone call.”

The survey has a maximum margin of error of + or – 6%.

ENDS

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