After 22 Strong Quarters, Mobile Video Goes Flat, New Ooyala Q2 2017 Video Index Reveals

September 20, 2017 Chris Huppertz
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After 22 Strong Quarters, Mobile Video Goes Flat, New Ooyala Q2 2017 Video Index Reveals

Ooyala, a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video, today released its Q2 2017 Global Video Index, revealing video consumption on mobile devices stayed essentially flat in the second quarter of 2017. This quarter’s report also tracks global variances in video consumption including greater Q/Q growth for tablet viewing, mobile growth in global markets, as well as emerging trends in online video advertising.

Long Form Video Consumption Continues Mobile Migration

For the second consecutive quarter, long-form content — greater than 20 minutes in length — now represents the majority of time spent watching video across all screen sizes, with mobile devices being the platform of choice between 2.4 to 3.3 times more than personal computers.

Much of that is due to the increasing amount of premium content that services are now making available to all devices. As longer content becomes more prevalent, an increasing number of users — across all demographics — are as comfortable watching longer form content on smaller screens as they are watching it on big screens. And they’re simply watching more content in general.

By device, data finds long-form content now represents:

  • 96% of all time spent watching video on connected TVs, down marginally from 98% the quarter before;
  • 82% on tablets, also up slightly from 81% in Q1;
  • 53% on computers, down from 65% in Q1;
  • 53% on smartphones, marginally down from 55% in Q1

Global Video Consumption

Mobile viewing continues to be a major driver of OTT growth, despite the plateau in growth in Q2 2017. Although mobile plays were dominant in every region, Ooyala found that mobile plays in Asia pacific made up nearly three quarters of all plays at 72%, the highest in the world, a 21.9 percent variance in consumption over North American viewers. EMEA at 12.6% and Asia Pacific at 14.1% saw the highest percentage of tablet plays.

Regionally, the study finds:

  • In EMEA, mobile plays represent 7% of all video plays, up from just 54.1% in Q1;
  • In North America, mobile represents slightly more than half of all video plays for the fourth consecutive quarter;
  • In APAC, 72% of all video plays are on mobile, up from 61% in Q1;
  • In LatAm, mobile plays topped 56%. After consecutive quarters of mobile play share increasing 5% in Q4 2016 and 8.4% in Q1 2017, mobile this quarter grew just 0.1%

”Today’s video consumers are looking to complement, or replace, their traditional video entertainment sources; driving the increasing amount of original content that is being pushed over the top to audiences who want it when, where and on any device they choose,” said Ooyala Principal Analyst and Strategic Media Consultant, Jim O’Neill. “That content increasingly needs to go out globally, to markets that often speak different languages, have different social mores, even government regulations. The space is getting more complicated, the stakes higher and the need for smart solutions more pressing.”

More Q2 2017 Global Video Index Highlights

  • Mobile growth in emerging markets – specifically APAC and LatAm, where mobile plays totaled 72% and 56% respectively – continue to gain access to premium content as the price of smartphones and mobile bandwidth declines;
  • Developed markets like North America (50%) and EMEA (57.7%) see mobile maintaining the lion’s share of online video plays as Millennials turn to mobile devices first for content
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