Engagement patterns by device

There’s a common cliché in our industry that says the bigger the screen, the better. Well, it may be cliché, but it’s also true. The biggest screens, connected televisions, have seen their share of time watched for content longer than 10 minutes increase steadily over the past year. From Q1’s 43% to Q2’s 53%, Q3’s 71% and Q4’s 74%, a growth of more than 72% over 12 months. On the tablets, meanwhile, the share of time watched for the same content has declined slightly to 54% in Q4 from 55% in Q3 and 59% in Q1.Computers had a share of watch time of 38% for content longer than 10 minutes, essentially

Computers had a share of watch time of 38% for content longer than 10 minutes, essentially fl at for the quarter; the share has been vacillating between 35% and 40% for the entire year. And mobile phones rang up a share of time watched to 31%, the same as in Q3. Computers’ share of time watched from 0 to 3 minutes was 43%, followed by mobile phones (40%), tablets (24%) and CTVs (20%), reinforcing viewing trends that have been in place for several quarters (See Figure 1). Small screens and computers remain the screens of choice for video vignettes, movie trailers and content like music videos. However, mobile phones remained the device of choice for watching short video content under 10 minutes. For the second quarter in a row, 69% of all videos watched on smartphones were under 10 minutes long, a slight increase since the beginning of 2015. Tablet share of time watched for content 10-30 minutes in length grew for the third consecutive quarter to 21%, the most out of any device for that length of content. Computers also increased their share of time watched for longer content over 30 minutes. It was the third consecutive quarter of growth for computers.

However, mobile phones remained the device of choice for watching short video content under 10 minutes. For the second quarter in a row, 69% of all videos watched on smartphones were under 10 minutes long, a slight increase since the beginning of 2015. Tablet share of time watched for content 10-30 minutes in length grew for the third consecutive quarter to 21%, the most out of any device for that length of content. Computers also increased their share of time watched for longer content over 30 minutes. It was the third consecutive quarter of growth for computers.

Long form video: Share of time watched by device and video length – Q4 2015

Content continues to flow online and to all devices. Increasingly, much of it is long-form premium content that, at the demand of consumers, is being delivered over-the-top. Everything from episodic TV to longer dramas, movies, news and sports has become regular fare online. Still, a vast amount of short-form content is being consumed on mobile devices, an almost made-to-order delivery system that better matches up with modern lifestyles. The price of data is coming down, and operators increasingly are designing new ways to deliver more content without eating up subscribers’ data. U.S. operators AT&T and Verizon, for example, are experimenting with sponsored content, where content owners pay to offset a user’s data consumption, and SVOD companies like Netflix continue to develop bandwidth- saving codecs to better compress content, again being sensitive to viewers’ pocketbooks. As more quality content comes online from broadcasters, via operator initiatives and from content owners going direct to consumers, competition for eyeballs will ramp up and easy engagement will disappear. Now, more than ever, data and predictive analytics will be crucial to measuring viewer engagement and minimising churn.

U.S. operators AT&T and Verizon, for example, are experimenting with sponsored content, where content owners pay to offset a user’s data consumption, and SVOD companies like Netflix continue to develop bandwidth- saving codecs to better compress content, again being sensitive to viewers’ pocketbooks. As more quality content comes online from broadcasters, via operator initiatives and from content owners going direct to consumers, competition for eyeballs will ramp up and easy engagement will disappear. Now, more than ever, data and predictive analytics will be crucial to measuring viewer engagement and minimising churn.

Spotlight on Asia-Pacific and Japan

In the fourth quarter, we took a look at the viewing habits of consumers in 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, where Ooyala sees high traffic across its footprint.

Mobile viewing

In many respects, APAC countries are nearly identical to the ROW when it comes to using mobile devices to watch video. Overall, mobile video makes up 43% of all video views in the APAC region, just slightly behind a world average of 46% in Q4. But five APAC nations — Singapore (55%), Australia (53%), Japan (50%), Indonesia (49%) and South Korea (47%) — are above the world and regional average. Thailand, at 44%, is slightly above the rest of the APAC region’s mobile video views. There are several reasons that explain the significant mobile usage in the APAC region. At the end of 2015, more than 1 billion people were using smartphones in the region, reports eMarketer. That number is expected to swell to nearly 1.5 billion by 2019. Singapore has the highest smartphone penetration in the world, with 89% of its population owning mobile phones, according to ZenithOptima, a number that’s expected to rise to 97% by 2018. In some emerging markets — Indonesia, for example — mobile networks are more developed and are easier to expand than fixed broadband networks. Fixed broadband networks remain underdeveloped, with penetration under 2% at the end of 2015, according to researcher BuddeComm. But there has been rapid growth of 4G and LTE mobile networks in the country, which has helped to expand the internet infrastructure in the country over the past several years. Australia

That number is expected to swell to nearly 1.5 billion by 2019. Singapore has the highest smartphone penetration in the world, with 89% of its population owning mobile phones, according to ZenithOptima, a number that’s expected to rise to 97% by 2018. In some emerging markets — Indonesia, for example — mobile networks are more developed and are easier to expand than fixed broadband networks. Fixed broadband networks remain underdeveloped, with penetration under 2% at the end of 2015, according to researcher BuddeComm. But there has been rapid growth of 4G and LTE mobile networks in the country, which has helped to expand the internet infrastructure in the country over the past several years. Australia too, has struggled with geography in deploying high-speed broadband across its expansive territory, finding mobile networks easier to establish and bring up to speed. Those robust mobile networks have helped create a thriving smartphone market.

Tablets play a bigger role in APAC

Tablets, meanwhile, make a substantially larger portion of mobile views in APAC than in the rest of the world, with smartphones being used to view mobile video 3.7X more than tablets, far below the 6.3X seen in the numbers for the ROW.

In all, tablets had one third or more of the views compared to smartphones in nearly half (46%) of the 15 countries studied in the APAC region. In the Philippines, there was one view on a tablet for every two views on a smartphone. New Zealand and Australia had similar ratios. In the ROW, video views on tablets made up just 14% of all mobile video views. It’s no surprise that ZenithOptima contends the region has the highest tablet penetration in the world. Hong Kong is the world’s leader, ZenithOptima said, with tablet penetration rates at 77% and rising to an expected 91% by 2018. Singapore is at 64% with growth expected to reach 82% by 2018.

Share of time watched by device and video length, APAC Q4 2015

Because of the abundance and popularity of mobile devices in the region — and the general absence of robust fixed broadband networks, it’s not terribly surprising that tablets and smartphones are used extensively for viewing all content. Smartphones’ share of time watched for video longer than 10 minutes topped 55% in Q4; for tablets, the share of time watched was nearly 65%. Desktops trailed at just 43% (See Figure 3). For content shorter than 6 minutes, desktops were a clear leader, at more than 54%. Still, as in the ROW, the size of the screen does appear to matter as content gets longer, especially for the longest content segment of 60 minutes and up. Connected TVs (CTV) scored a 45% share of time watched, compared to just 19% for tablets and 13% for smartphones. For content between 30 and 60 minutes, CTVs again are the leader at 44%, but tablets (34%) and smartphones (31%) also play well at that length.

The bottom line

With more and more people turning first to smartphones and tablets for their entertainment, and with device ownership becoming nearly universal in several APAC countries by the end of the decade, establishing a strong brand becomes even more critical for broadcasters and content owners. For brands, meanwhile, focusing on a mobile-first approach will help them reach the largest number of potential customers.