More Than 60% of Video Plays Will be on Mobile by Mid-2018, Ooyala Study Finds

Highlights:

• Mobile devices dominated online sports viewing, capturing nearly 58% of users; smartphones lead by 4x any other mobile device
• Q3 2017 mobile video starts grew nearly 12% vs. Q3 2016
• Time watching long-form content grew nearly 77% for smartphones, 70% for tablets; time watching medium-form content was down on every device
• Mid-roll advertising leads in completed ad views

More than 58% of video plays globally – a record – occurred on mobile devices in the third quarter of 2017, per the Q3 2017 Global Video Index released today by Ooyala, a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video.  This represents the sixth consecutive quarter in which mobile devices accounted for more than 50% of all online video starts, with Q3 mobile-video starts growing 11.9% vs. Q3 2016, the study finds.

Moreover, Ooyala forecasts that more than 60% of all video plays will be on mobile devices within the first half of 2018.

The use of mobile devices to view long-form video continues to grow dramatically, the report also found. Long-form time-watched grew nearly 77% on smartphones and  nearly 70% for tablets in Q3 2017 vs. Q3 2016, while medium-form video consumption continued to decline.

This quarter’s report also tracks global variances in video consumption including quarter-over-quarter growth for long-form content, mobile growth in global markets, and emerging trends in online video advertising.

Global Sports a Key Driver of Mobile Adoption

In a key finding with broader implications for the sports industry, more consumers are gravitating to mobile devices for viewing sporting events. In Ooyala’s global study, mobile devices dominated online sports viewing, capturing nearly 58% of users. Smartphones drew the largest segment, more than 46%, while tablet users attracted more than 11%.

In related findings:

• 18-to-49year old males tend to be the largest adopters of online video via smartphones;
• Video was played on smartphones 4X more than on tablets — setting a record high in July at 51.1% of all plays;
• Mobile accounted for nearly 63% of all Q3 sports-video plays, with viewing on smartphones above 50% and tablets at 12%. PC’s make up 35% of plays and connected TVs just less than 3%;
• Mobile devices accounted for nearly two-thirds of all viewers of geo-blocked sporting events; smartphones remained the device of choice, attracting more than 51% of users.

“Not surprisingly, mobile continues to be the major driver of online video, popular across all age groups and all content types, and sports are leading the way,” said Ooyala Principal Analyst Jim O’Neill. “Importantly, we know now that it’s just bunk to suggest the Internet can’t support live streaming of major sports events. One need look no further than the NFL (I stream at least two games a week without issue) for an example of just how ready sports leagues are to seed the Internet, hoping to harvest viewers from around the world and especially in China and its vast store of video consumers. Content providers, operators and brands all need to focus on how best to leverage the increasing adoption of all things mobile or risk being an also-ran in the race for content dominance.”

Global Video Consumption Varies Significantly by Region

Mobile devices especially outperformed in hard-to-access areas where a mobile network deployment is likely cheaper and easier than a fixed network.

Regionally, the study finds:

In the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region, mobile represents 56% of all video plays, a 15% quarter-over-quarter increase;

• In North America, mobile represents slightly more than half of all video plays at 54%; smartphones were dominant but plays on tablets were up 20%
• In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, 64.4% of all video plays are on mobile devices, the highest in the world and a 24% increase from a year ago;
• In Latin America (LatAm), video plays topped 57% on smartphones and tablets.

More Q3 2017 Global Video Index Highlights:

• Screen size doesn’t matter. Younger viewers and increasingly, older, viewers continue to drive the trend towards long-form content on smartphones. Companies are experimenting with 5G. Networks are testing the delivery of broadband to homes via wireless connections that will have enough bandwidth to handle any application.
• Among numerous findings on advertising-consumption trends, mid-roll ads saw the highest percentage of completions for digital-video publishers

The full report can be found here.