Waiting for the Millenials: Xbox

An increasing concern for Pay TV operators is the video consumption practices of the youthful sort, the 18-34 year olds, a.k.a Millennials, a.k.a Cord Nevers. This generation of video consumers is far more savvy with far more choices than its predecessors. It's becoming more apparent that Millennials are not going to simply follow the single monthly subscription model that their parents have habituated on. 

 Xbox is having some success reaching this group -- recent statistics from Microsoft reveal that 42% of Xbox Live members stream 30 hours of video monthly.  Xbox live has nearly 50 million subscribers, so this is more than an asterisk on a recent Nielsen report. Microsoft owns the content discovery and navigation experience, displacing the UX of the Pay TV operator, who is relegated to an almost invisible position even as it delivers the entire streaming experience into the ecosystem.  

Pay TV operators have plans of their own, of course. TV Everywhere initiatives are in play, and just last week, TWC indicated that are planning to bring their UX experience to devices such as the Xbox (or Roku, etc) for customers within their service footprint.