Baby Boomers Watch More Live TV, Less OTT, Than Younger Viewers, According to TDG Report

Baby boomers watch close to 2.5 hours more TV a week than younger post-boomers, and have a stronger first preference for live TV than post-boomers (68 percent versus 45 percent) and less of an inclination to go to over-the-top (OTT) streaming services first, The Diffusion Group said in a report. TDG said 44 percent of boomers stream OTT video to their TVs weekly and average more than four hours a week of streaming content viewing, while 67 percent of post-boomers do streaming, and watch roughly 10 hours a week. While both boomers and post-boomers favor subscription services for their streaming content, boomers tend to use TV network and service provider sources while post-boomers tend to watch free content, TDG said Thursday. Boomers’ use of devices that allow streaming to the TV is growing rapidly, but they tend to connect via smart TVs while post-boomers tend to use game consoles, the firm said. About 35 percent of boomers use their smartphones for streaming and watch 2.4 hours a week via those devices, while 62 percent of post-boomers watch video on their phones and watch nearly twice as much video, TDG said. Boomers also are more likely to subscribe to traditional pay TV than post-boomers (91 percent versus 83 percent), it said. The data came from a survey of 3,428 people done in 2015.