AsiaPac to Lead Market in Multiscreen Viewing

LONDON: The number of consumers watching TV and video content on multiple screens is expected to surge from 5.6 billion in 2010 to 11.32 billion by 2020, according to Digital TV Research, which finds that the Asia Pacific is leading in multiscreen viewership.

According to the Multiscreen TV & Video Forecasts report, 3.98 billion people will watch content via a laptop or PC over a fixed broadband connection by 2020, up 80 percent on the 2013 figures. Smartphone viewers will total 1.53 billion, which is triple the 2013 total. Tablet viewers will be 1.1 billion, five times the 2013 figures. Although TV sets will continue to be the dominant device, in both viewers and duration, the total share of viewership will fall from 73 percent in 2010 to 42 percent in 2020, as viewing on other devices grows dramatically.

As for the markets leading this phenomenon, China will have 2.89 billion viewers by 2020, which is up from the 1.5 billion reported in 2010. India will account for a further 2.4 billion by 2020. The country will add nearly 1 billion gross viewers between 2014 and 2020, while China adds 897 million.

Simon Murray, the author of the report, said: “By 2020, the average person will watch TV and video content [at least once a month] on 2.13 devices, up from 1.14 in 2010 and 1.53 in 2014—to put it another way, people will view content on more than two devices in 2020, up from just over one in 2010. Australia (2.88) will be the leading country by viewing devices per person in 2020. In fact, 13 countries will be above 2.80.”