Ampere study highlights shifting online video pattern

YouTube remains the most watched video service overall across 14 major markets, but Facebook now attracts just under half the number of eyeballs of Google’s service, according to Ampere Analysis’ Top Online Video Services Barometer.

YouTube was the most watched service in all but one of the markets surveyed. The UK was the exception, where the BBC iPlayer was the most watched service.

YouTube was watched by 68.7% of internet users at least once a month in Q3, across the markets surveyed. Facebook was watched by 32.8%. Netflix, the third placed service overall and the top subscription service on the list, was watched by 28.8%.

Instagram, Snapchat and Amazon Instant Video occupied the next three slots on the top 10 list of services, attracting 15.9%, 9.2% and 8.8% of internet users respectively.

Ampere’s Barometer found that over half of internet users in two markets – the US and Denmark, – viewed a subscription video-on-demand service at least once in the last month. Use of SVOD services was also high in Sweden, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Germany and lowest in France, where strict windowing rules means that movies do not reach SVOD services until three years after their theatrical release.

Ampere found that most of Snapchat and Instagram’s users were under 35 years old, with Snapchat the youngest-skewing service of all those studied, while 25-34 year-olds made up the largest proportion of Netflix’s audience. Amazon, however, had the highest proportion of users in this age group. YouTube attracted the highest proportion of 55-64 year-olds. Facebook was considerable older-skewing than Snapchat and Instagram, and slightly older-skewing than Netflix, but younger skewing than YouTube and Amazon.

Ampere studied the survey responses of 28,000 internet users in the US, Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Turkey and France in Q3.