Zenith: Mobile to Become Primary Platform for Online Video

LONDON: According to Zenith’s Online Video Forecasts 2016 report, mobile devices will overtake “fixed devices” this year to become the main platform for viewing online video.

The firm is forecasting that consumers will spend an average of 19.7 minutes a day viewing online videos on their mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), compared to 16 minutes on fixed devices (both desktop computers and smart TV sets). This represents a 39-percent increase for mobile from last year’s figures. Fixed video consumption will be flat this year, with higher viewing on smart TVs offset by the viewing lost from desktops to smartphones and tablets.

The growth in mobile video consumption is being driven by the increasing popularity of mobile devices, particularly low-cost devices in lower-income countries; the development of better mobile displays; and the spread of high-speed data connections, particularly 4G. Zenith forecasts mobile video consumption will grow 33 percent in 2017 and 27 percent in 2018 to reach 33.4 minutes a day. Mobile devices will account for 64 percent of all online video consumption in 2018. Fixed video consumption will grow 13 percent in 2017 and 3 percent in 2018 to reach 18.7 minutes, as smart-TV viewing becomes more common.

Advertisers spent $17.5 billion on online video ads in 2015, up from $13.4 billion in 2014. Online video adspend is forecast to grow at an average rate of 19.8 percent a year, reaching $30.1 billion in 2018. This will increase online video’s share of digital display adspend to 31.3 percent, up from 26.7 percent in 2015. While most online video consumption is mobile, the majority of expenditure on online video advertising goes to fixed devices, and will continue to do so in 2017. Zenith estimates that fixed video ads will account for 68 percent of all online video advertising this year, down from 75 percent last year. The firm expects that in 2018 mobile advertising will equal fixed.

“The spread of mobile devices and high-speed connections means consumers will have online video content at their fingertips throughout the day,” said Jonathan Barnard, the head of forecasting at Zenith. “This creates new opportunities for advertisers to communicate with consumers, using online video ads to combine the brand-building power of audiovisual advertising with pinpoint targeting and personalization.”