Since March 2020, credential sharing among adult streaming consumers in the United States has risen to 42%. This finding was part of a study commissioned by Tubi, conducted by OnePoll, and reported by NextTV this week.
Read more in the New York Post, with additional stats
Why it matters
A July 2019 Parks Associates report estimated a 27% rate of password sharing and piracy for 2019, rising to 38% by 2024. A follow-on Parks Associates report that focused specifically on piracy released in January 2020 said that about 72% of that 2019 rate was due to password sharing, the remaining 28% to piracy.
So, by comparing the Parks and OnePoll estimates, it’s clear that the pandemic has caused a spike in password sharing.
While the OnePoll/Tubi study said that only 11% of sharing was with people other than partners, friends or family members, the study was inconclusive as to whether the respondents knew the difference between legal and illegal sharing.
So this report doesn’t tell us whether or not the rate of actual piracy has changed, now that many consumers have resorted to streaming to fill the gaps left by the absence of their eight hour work days.
By Steve Hawley
