Hub’s annual Decoding the Default study once again tracks the services and devices that viewers turn to first when they’re ready to watch video content.
The media landscape is more unsettled since last year’s wave. Most recently, Comcast announced plans to spin off NBCUniversal, including Peacock, into its own publicly traded company, fully separating its media and streaming businesses from its core Xfinity broadband and wireless operations. That follows NBCUniversal’s earlier spin-off of its cable networks into the standalone Versant Media Group, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s planned breakup into separate streaming and linear businesses was overtaken by Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of the entire company. At the same time, Disney is moving toward a single Disney+ app that absorbs Hulu, and ESPN and Fox have each launched standalone direct-to-consumer sports apps that further splinter where fans go for live games. In parallel, the continued rise of FAST services such as Tubi, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel is redefining value propositions for viewers who are cost-conscious or overwhelmed by too many paid subscriptions.
In this increasingly complex environment, Decoding the Default continues to explore the first-stop behaviors that define the viewer’s journey. A viewer’s default platform is often their “home base” for viewing, significantly influencing frequency of use, depth of engagement, and subscription retention.
This year’s study helps content providers, streamers, and distributors understand what earns and sustains “default” status, including the growing role that smarter search and recommendations play in winning the first click. The result is a strategic lens into which platforms are gaining share of mind, and which risk being deprioritized in a market that is constantly in motion.
Source: Interviews with 1,600 U.S. TV viewers with broadband access age 16-74
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