A new market study from IneoQuest Technologies reveals the extent to which viewers of OTT streaming videos suffer from buffer rage – defined as ¨a state of uncontrollable fury or violent anger induced by the delayed or interrupted enjoyment of streaming…¨
Gaining better understanding of and resolving the ¨Digital Age¨ Buffer Rage affliction is a crucial one for participants all along the OTT video value chain, IneoQuest points out in a news release.
Nearly 3 of 4 consumers watch streaming video via OTT service providers daily, 3 in 10 (31%) weekly. Half those surveyed by IneoQuest (51%) said they had experienced Buffer Rage as a result of delays or interrupted viewing caused by video buffering. Two-thirds (66%) said they became frustrated while video buffering took place. One in five (21%) said they experienced severe levels of irritation.
Furthermore, survey participants reported that buffering occurs regularly. One in three (34%) said they encountered buffering problems in 1 of 3 video programs. One-quarter (24%) said they experienced buffering during 1 in 5.
Buffer Rage Vs. Road Rage
In a comparison, IneoQuest determined that 1 in 3 people under 35 (34%) suffer from Buffer Rage more frequently than they do road rage.
Turning to examine causes, the market research team found that more than 1 in 4 (27%) of survey participants said buffering occurred most often before viewing began. One in three (34%) said that buffering occurred in the first 15 seconds of initiating streaming.
These results are especially important for OTT streaming video market participants given other study results indicated that more than 40% of consumers would wait just 10 seconds or less before terminating a video stream that was buffering, IneoQuest noted. In addition, nearly 40% said they would not try to watch the video again.
Other key takeaways include:
- Consumers experience the highest levels of Buffer Rage when watching content on a mobile device (58 percent) and when mid-video buffering occurs (66 percent).
- Nearly a quarter of all consumers (23 percent) and 33 percent of men report that buffering during live sporting events causes the most rage.
- Fifty-five percent of consumers blame their Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Internet connection for buffering video content.
Commenting on the study, IneoQuest senior marketing director Kurt Michel said: “This data shows that OTT service providers need to do more to ensure the delivery of a more reliable, consistent, enjoyable viewing experience to consumers in order to prevent a rampant Buffer Rage epidemic.
“IneoQuest gives OTT content owners and service providers the ability to combat the Buffer Rage epidemic by providing intelligence and visibility across the entire OTT value chain, enabling the consistent and reliable delivery of streaming video.¨
