The UK’s television channels are the most likely to be recommended, according to an Ampere Analysis study.
The research, which investigated both free-to-air and pay-TV channels throughout the top five European markets and the USA, saw the UK receive the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS).
NPS measures ‘loyalty and brand affinity’ and to what extent a consumer is likely to recommend a service to others.
The research also found a ‘significant’ performance gap between public service broadcasters (PSBs) and commercial pay-TV channels.
Specifically, the BBC is the best performing national PSB, with a higher percentage of viewers and higher NPS rating than all European counterparts.
In contrast, US national broadcasters are ironically the most watched and least recommended, with major networks such as CBS and ABC struggling to scrape into the top 20.
As for national commercial broadcasters (NCBs) Mediaset in Italy has the most strongly recommended channel portfolio, with 76 per cent of homes in Italy saying they watch Mediaset channels. The UK, however, dominates againwith ITV, Channel 4 and Sky in second, third and fourth place respectively across the major European markets.
Netflix recommendations vary depending on how the service has established itself in a given country’s market. In its stronger markets such as France, the UK and USA, the platform has a much higher NPS than traditional pay-TV competitors. In newer territories such as Spain and Italy, however, it is yet to compete with pay-TV providers.
Ed Border, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, said, “Our analysis shows a big difference in engagement between new and old TV players. What does become clear is that content and brand are key. The strength of brand BBC shines through.
“Comparing the performance of the BBC with other European pubcasters shows that despite major groups in France and Germany spending similar sums on programming, there is a stark difference in viewer engagement and average channel ratings.
The lesson from the US is that the more targeted, lower-audience channels are offering content that is meeting their viewers’ needs.
“The same is true of the new SVoD services like Netflix where original content strategy, powerful brand and strong positioning help it achieve the highest Net Promoter Score among pay channel brands.”
