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58pc of consumers watch TV and movies on mobile

Almost 70 percent of consumers who purchased a movie or television show in 2016 did so through a mobile device, according to a new study from PayPal.

The report looked at the digital media consumption habits of consumers and found that mobile dominated in most categories, ranking top in terms of TV, movies, music and more. The report shows the massive potential for marketing to mobile users given the fact that they drive large sections of the media economy.

?The new digital economies that have emerged in the entertainment industry have changed everything from where content is consumed to consumer marketing to how the content creators themselves are monetizing their work,? said Melissa O?Malley, director of global initiatives at PayPal. 

Mobile media
While mobile is by far the most popular way that consumers interact with social media, its role in driving other types of digital media interactions has been less clear.

To remedy this, a new study from PayPal took a look at the percentage of transactions relating to different types of digital media and compared them across channels.

For example, the report looked into what percentage of consumers purchased a digital version of a movie or a TV show on mobile. The report found that 58 percent of consumers use their smartphones to purchase and watch movies and television shows.


Music is another category with huge mobile numbers with 86 percent of respondents using their smartphones to purchase or stream music.

These numbers correlate to a larger decline in physical media, with fewer and fewer customers purchasing physical copies of movies and music. The majority of customers, 39 percent, prefer to own their music digitally, and only 17 percent prefer a mix of physical and digital.

Finally, the report found that mobile is without a doubt driving purchases for both movies and TV as well as music.

Seventy percent of movie and TV consumers and 72 percent of music consumers purchased their media through mobile.

Streaming vs. buying
The report also compared streaming services to purchase-model services.

The data showed that customers of streaming services were very loyal compared to other models. Less than half of movie consumers and half of music consumers have canceled a streaming subscription within the last year.

This data shows a clear demarcation between the past and the present when it comes to how consumers handle their media.

Where once consumers would buy physical copies of movies, TV shows and music  and watch them or listen to them at home, now consumers overwhelmingly prefer to buy or stream all their media digitally.


Even more important to marketers is that that media is very often consumed through mobile. 

This presents a unique opportunity for marketers who can capitalize on the increasing media consumption through mobile.

The popularity of streaming has not gone unnoticed, with the Billboard charts finally adding Pandora streams as a factor in deciding what the most popular songs of the day are (see story).

Meanwhile, big investments have been made in streaming services, such as Sprint?s recent high-profile acquisition of Tidal (see story).

Marketers would be smart to take advantage of this changing climate that allows them to advertise in a granular, ever-changing way that traditional physical media does not.

?With the velocity of payments in this space, PayPal play a critical role in facilitating, securing and simplifying the transaction for both merchants and customers,? M.s O?Malley said.