Streaming continues to dominate in new report

Consumers may be ‘permanently shifting away from linear TV’ a new report has said.

According to the latest global video index from Brightcove, streaming has become the go-to choice for viewing, with connected TVs in particular seeing a surge in use.

CTV views increased by 428% in the first half of the year versus H1 2019. Brightcove noted that viewers watch content four times as long on CTVs than on smartphones, followed by tablets (200%), and computers (30%).

Partly as a result of the pandemic, every type of device saw a surge in use. CTVs, smartphones, tablets, and computers saw gains in excess of 80% in April with May and June also seeing impressive increases across the board.

Jim O’Neill, principal analyst at Brightcove, said: “The streaming industry is exploding faster than we’ve ever seen before. While much can be attributed to COVID-19 keeping people indoors, stay-at-home orders do not account for the entirety of recent growth. There has been significant growth within the video industry, leading to more video content streaming as a whole; OTT services like Netflix added nearly 26 million viewers and Disney+ topped 54.5 million subscribers in Q2.”

In terms of overall video content, the first half of 2020 saw a 30% increase in viewing year-over-year. Consumption of news and entertainment content in Q2 nearly doubled (40%) from Q1 (23%), with the firm suggesting that this is ‘a significant finding’ as video viewing typically slows during Q2.

Brightcove CEO Jeff Ray said: “2020 has become video’s evolutionary moment, and streaming entertainment video content is one area where we will continue to see growth. The crisis has impacted people at an emotional and financial level, making the need for human connection through video content more crucial than ever. We’re seeing this play out with the rise of streaming services subscriptions, indicating that the future of entertainment consumption lies in connected and mobile devices – linear television could soon be of the past.”