Adobe: Online TV consumption up 388 per cent

Adobe released its  Video Benchmark Report, which analyzes online TV (TV Everywhere) and other, non-authenticated online video trends. Key findings of the Adobe Digital Index report show that more people watched more TV online than ever before. Hit jump for the details.

TV consumption across devices grew 388 percent year-over-year (YoY) and programmers saw broader use as unique monthly viewers increased by 146 percent YoY across browsers and TV apps. While online TV consumption remains fragmented across platforms, gaming consoles and over-the-top (OTT) devices gained the largest percentage of market share and Android apps surpassed desktop browsers as access points for watching TV online. 

“Consumers’ content consumption habits are changing rapidly”

The findings are based on aggregated and anonymous data from more than 1,300 media and entertainment properties using Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe Primetime. The report includes 165 billion total online video starts and 1.53 billion TV Everywhere authentications across 250 pay-TV service providers covering 99 percent of pay-TV households in the U.S. The analysis also examined TV Everywhere content from 105 TV channels and more than 300 TV apps and sites.

“Consumers’ content consumption habits are changing rapidly,” said Jeremy Helfand, vice president, Primetime at Adobe. “Viewers expect seamless, more personalized viewing experiences across an ever-increasing number of devices, and broadcasters, media companies and advertisers must transform their digital strategies to optimize the viewing experience.”

Additional findings include:

• Online TV Consumption: TV consumption across devices grew 388 percent YoY, driven in part by the World Cup, a major online TV event this summer. Broadcast and cable networks with direct-to-consumer online TV offerings saw their unique monthly viewership grow by 146 percent YoY across all online TV channels while the amount of online TV content watched per viewer grew by 55 percent YoY. 105 TV channels now power more than 300 online TV sites and apps in the U.S.
• Platform Fragmentation: Of all device types, game consoles and OTT devices saw the biggest market share increase (194 percent YoY), now representing ten percent of all online TV consumption, up from three percent in 2013. The online TV market share for Android apps grew to 20 percent, an increase of 28 percent, surpassing browsers, which shrank to 19 percent market share, a 41 percent decline YoY. iOS apps still lead in market share with 51 percent.
• Online TV Content: For the first time, watching movies online exceeded watching sports content. Movie networks saw the strongest gain in viewing frequency, a 125 percent increase YoY from two movies to now 4.5 movies on average per month. Broadcast and cable networks saw an increase of 81 percent YoY for episodic content watched each month. Viewers watched 4.2 sporting events on average across sports networks, a modest monthly increase of 31 percent.
• Online Video (non-authenticated) Content: Viewing of online videos on smartphones (14 percent share) surpassed tablets (13 percent share) for the first time. Game consoles and OTT devices realized the highest market share growth with 127 percent YoY. Viewers watched videos on desktops the longest and were three times more likely to finish 75 percent of the content. Only 17 percent of videos on smartphones were watched through 75 percent completion.