Recently, we conducted a research project to delve into the world of co-streaming – the experience of watching content with others virtually and simultaneously, even though they are physically apart. Co-streaming can happen through streaming services with built-in functionality, extensions or apps that work with a variety of streaming services, or through messaging and video chat apps like WhatsApp, Zoom, or Facebook Messenger.

This research was based on a quantitative survey of 1,000 streamers aged 13 to 54 in the US. Here’s some of what we learned:

Almost 6 in 10 streamers are co-streaming. We found that 57% of Americans who stream content have co-streamed a TV show or movie in the last year. Co-streamers are more likely than average to be under 35 years old, male, parents, and Hispanic.

They co-stream for a variety of reasons. The top reasons cited for co-streaming were to watch a TV show or movie that they and their companions love, to share the experience of a favorite movie or show, to adapt to life during Covid-19, to try something new, and to hang out with others.

They mainly co-stream with friends and partners – and would like to expand their circles. Co-streamers are most likely to watch with friends (57%) and partners/boyfriends/girlfriends (48%), followed by parents (33%) and siblings (23%). They co-stream with 4 to 5 people on average, but their ideal would be 6 to 7 people.

Co-streaming is here to stay. Though co-streamers mentioned that the pandemic motivated them to co-stream, most of them plan to do even more of it in the future. When the pandemic is over, 57% of people who co-stream said they predict they will co-stream more often, 34% expect they will do it just as often, and just 10% expect to co-stream less often.