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Mobile video consumption stabilises in Q1 2018

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SINGAPORE  – Mobile video consumption continues to rise but growth stabilised in Q1 2018; total video plays increased during the quarter just 1.8% from the prior year, per Ooyala’s newly released Q1 2018 Global Video Index Report. The increase was one of the smallest in 14 quarters, and also marked the first quarter-over-quarter decline in mobile’s share of plays at nearly 4.6%.

 

Nevertheless, consumption on mobile devices of long-form video – defined as more than 20 minutes in length – continues to thrive, the study finds.  On smartphones, for example, 20-to-40-minute long videos were viewed to completion 57% of the time, while videos exceeding 40 minutes (ultra-long form) were viewed to completion more than 45% of the time, the Ooyala study found.

 

On other devices, Ooyala found:

  • Viewers watched long-form content (20-40 mins.) to completion 61% on tablets and 71% on PCs
  • Viewers watched ultra-long form content (40+ mins.) to completion 51% tablets and 59% PCs

 

“Consumers are becoming far more comfortable watching any content on every screen than they’ve ever been,” said Jim O’Neill, Ooyala principal analyst.  “The traditional barriers to multiscreen viewing –  the amount of available premium content, the cost of service and the quality of experience –  all have fallen. The first screen for viewing truly has become the screen that’s most available to the viewer at the moment.”

 

Regional Mobile Video Viewing Trends

 

Latin America saw significant quarter-over-quarter gains in mobile’s share of video plays while Asia-Pacific grew slightly, despite declines in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and North America.

 

But in North America, mobile video plays were still up 9% from a year ago and 18% over the past two years, accounting for 56.6% of all video plays in Q1 2018.

 

In related findings:

  • EMEA saw mobile video plays hit 58% in the first quarter of 2018, a 22% Y/Y increase from 47.8% in Q1 2017, and 39% better than Q1 2016
  • Asia-Pac saw the share of video plays on mobile devices hit 60.7%, up from 52.3% a year ago
  • Latin America’s share of video plays on mobile devices reached an all-time high of 59.5%

 

The Rising Tide of Streaming Video Content

 

While OTT services more than doubled their hours of content offerings in Q4 2017, even more content was created in Q1 2018 – reaching nearly three times the amount processed the year before.

 

Specifically:

  • Long-form content (longer than 20 minutes) jumped 189%
  • Medium-form content (5-20 minutes) was up 171%
  • Short-form (shorter than 5 minutes) grew 178%

 

“Mobile video content is coming from an expanding universe of creators and distributors across sports, news, entertainment and enterprise,” added O’Neill.

 

“They understand that mobile needs to be a pillar of any content provider’s streaming video strategy.  Ignore mobile, or allow lower-quality standards for your video stream, and you’re likely to lose a significant portion of your business.”

 

The full Ooyala Q1 Video Index report can be found here.