A Family of Eighteen and The PS4

How does a family of eighteen keep their kids entertained? With a PS4, of course! PlayStation Australia recruited the nation’s largest family of 18, The Bonells, to find out how they keep their family happily entertained using just one device. With streaming of music, tv shows, movies and gaming, the Playstation is an all round entertainment system that keeps families of all sizes happy (even huge ones!).

With the continuous rise in the popularity of streaming home entertainment, PlayStation® Australia has released new research uncovering how modern Australian parents keep the whole family entertained with the wide choice of streaming services and devices, including PlayStation®4 (PS4™), available this holiday season.
The study has found that almost three quarters (74 per cent) of parents get their entertainment fix through streamed movie and TV content. On average, streaming households watch over two hours a day, equating to 15 hours a week, translating to over one month dedicated to streaming a year. Hours fly by due to binge-worthy viewing like Stranger Things or old favourites such as Seinfield, resulting in over half of Australian families (57 per cent) streaming more content now than they did a year ago.
Australian parents also prefer to stay in and catch the latest entertainment at home, with over half of parents in streaming households (52 per cent) admitting they prefer to stay home and watch their favourite shows rather than head out for an evening or catch up with friends.

In our household, our PS4 is mainly used for gaming (the boys are 12, 14 and 22) but we do use it to stream Spotify and TV shows from the commercial TV station’s catch up TV programs such as TenPlay and ABC iview.
The research by PlayStation Australia reveals streaming home entertainment is helping Australian families spend time together, with one in five parents (21 per cent) typically watching their favourite streamed TV shows together as a family.
Almost one in five (17 per cent) Australian families streaming entertainment use a PlayStation to watch catch up and stream video on demand (SVOD) services. That said, due to PlayStation’s strong heritage in the video games category, the study also revealed almost 69 per cent of Australian parents are unaware of the potential of PlayStation 4 and its advantages of allowing users to stream TV and movies, listen to Spotify on PlayStation Music, as well as purchase and rent new release movies and TV shows.

The ownership rights has always been a contentious topic and the study unveils that it is in fact Aussie Dads who control the remote (46 per cent) followed by Mums (32 per cent) and kids (19 per cent).

With that said, Aussie parents confirm it is the kids who stream the most at home (49 per cent) compared to their parents, with dads taking second place (26 per cent) and mums streaming TV the least (21 per cent) in the household.
Michael Ephraim, Managing Director, Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia and New Zealand, said, “With the best games, PlayStation VR, listening to the latest music on Spotify or catching up on your favourite shows on the likes of ABC iView, Netflix, Stan, or Foxtel Play, PlayStation 4 hosts the best entertainment services so absolutely everybody in the family can be entertained, especially over the holiday period.”
Ephraim continued, “PlayStation 4 really does offer something for everyone and tuning in to your favourite entertainment service has never been easier thanks to the recent launch of the officially licensed Universal Media Remote for PS4 – the perfect stocking filler for any PlayStation 4 owner this Christmas.”

What do you use your PS4 for? If you don’t have one, are you planning on buying one for Christmas?