Report Charts Gains in Online Video, TV Everywhere Usage

NEW YORK: Online video viewing globally has reached a new high, according to data from Adobe Digital Index (ADI), which also found that TV Everywhere usage is growing rapidly, with 21 percent of pay-TV customers now accessing content on multiple devices and browsers.

According to the U.S. Digital Video Benchmark report for Q1 2014, online video starts in the period rose to 35.6 billion, a 43-percent increase on Q1 2013. TV Everywhere usage is growing even faster, with the number of unique visitors per month up 157 percent over the same period last year and 49 percent over the previous quarter. TV Everywhere video consumption rose by 246 percent in the period.

“More and more, the notion of having ‘a television’ is becoming an archaic concept,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst with ADI. “That thing hanging on your wall or standing in your corner is just a really big screen. Accessing content is no longer a matter of holding one controller. Between the new holiday gaming console gifts, new Apple TV and Roku add-ons, larger-screen smartphones and proliferation of tablets, online television viewing has never been more accessible.”

Gaming consoles like the Xbox One and PS4 and OTT boxes like Apple TV and Roku experienced a 123-percent gain in online video starts. They are also driving the TV Everywhere gains, with a 539-percent increase in authenticated video viewing from those devices. Smartphone video usage was also up, by 48 percent, while tablet usage rose just 16 percent. iOS apps lead in terms of access points for TV Everywhere content, with a 43 percent market share, followed by browsers (36 percent), Android apps (15 percent) and gaming consoles and OTT devices (6 percent).

Joe Martin, lead analyst for video at ADI, also noted: “The percentage of households using TV Everywhere jumped from 16 percent to 21 percent in just the past six months. Sports viewing plays a pivotal role in getting new users to access digital video, so with the World Cup coming in a few weeks, we expect to see another big jump when we do our Q2 report.”

He added, “Marketers need to recognize the growth in TV Everywhere. People are using those apps to watch content that they missed from the day before or to binge on content that they may not have seen before. The growth in this area could mean that marketers can look at TV Everywhere content to reach a more targeted audience.”