So called long form content is now the majority of viewing for tablet and smartphone users, with these viewers spending nearly 60% of their video consumption time watching it, according to Ooyala. Long form content is defined by the video analytics firm as premium content running more than 10 minutes, leading Ooyala to suggest “… consumers are increasingly turning to mobile phones and tablets as first screen devices.”
Surging growth in tablet and smartphone video plays highlights a fundamental shift in viewing habits with deep and lasting implications for video service providers and media industry participants all along the value chain, according to Ooyala. “The numbers are in, and the trends are clear: TV is no longer a single screen in your living room. And for younger generations, it never will be,” according to the Q3 Global Video Index report’s executive summary.
Drilling down into the survey data, Ooyala picked up on several significant trends:
- PC viewers watched live video 11x longer than VOD, for an average of 30 minutes per session last quarter.
- Smart TV viewers watched live video 9x longer than VOD, for an average of 46 minutes per play.
- More viewers are tuning in to long-form, premium streaming media on all connected screens
- Tablet TV viewers spent 25% of their viewing time watching videos more than 60 minutes long.
- Connected TV viewers spent nearly one-third of their time watching videos longer than one hour.
“If you watch a TV show on your iPad, is it no longer a TV show? The device and length are irrelevant,” Kevin Spacy pointed out to television executives at the Edinburgh Television Festival. Ooyala states. “For kids growing up now, there’s no difference between watching Avatar on an iPad, or watching YouTube on a TV, or watching Game of Thrones on their computer. It’s all content. It’s just story.
“Studios and networks who ignore either shift – whether the increasing sophistication of storytelling, or the constantly shifting sands of technological advancement – will be left behind.”
