Mobile takes the lead in video-on-demand viewing, with 56 per cent of views

Mobile devices are leading the way in video views for advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) services – with 56 per cent of global views coming from smartphones and tablets.

According to Ooyala’s Q4 Global Video Index, smartphones make up the bulk of AVOD consumption at 45 per cent, just ahead of desktop at 44 per cent and tablets accounting for the remaining 11 per cent.

The EMEA region has the highest mobile AVOD consumption at almost 60 per cent – with tablets also having the highest regional views at 12 per cent. Within North America, mobile viewing numbers are at the lowest globally, at nearly 50 per cent, due to ‘the maturity of the market and more users using a wider range of devices, particularly connected TV’.

Overall, mobile video consumption grew by 46 per cent year-on-year, now accounting for 54 per cent of total global video plays. Ooyala expects that nearly 60 per cent of all video views will be on mobile in Q1 2017.

Furthermore, long-form content is now outpacing short-form video plays. Long-form made up 47 per cent of mobile plays in Q4 versus 40 per cent for short-form.

“We see a steady increase of premium subscription and ad-supported content coming over the top, and the consumer is determining which will be the winner,” said Jim O’Neill, principal analyst and strategic media consultant at Ooyala. “Based on our data and feedback from customers, we see the modern TV model evolving into one that involves both, a hybrid of SVOD and AVOD and accessible on every device.”

“The bottom line is TV of the future will not be anything like the legacy TV market we all grew up with.”

Ooyala also found that publishers saw a rise in mid-roll impressions on mobile devices in Q4 2016 – rising from 30 per in Q3 to 48 per cent. Despite this, publishers’ mid-roll completion rates fell from 84 per cent in Q3 2016 to 78 per cent in Q4, while broadcasters saw nearly 96 per cent completion across all devices.

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