Time spent streaming in the fourth quarter jumped 44% from a year ago, according to Conviva’s State of Streaming report.
The report is the latest evidence of the shift to streaming that the media world is trying to adjust to.
“The way consumers view content fundamentally changed in 2020 with launch of new streaming services, the rapid adoption of smart TVs and connected TV devices and changing social behavior,” said Bill Demas, CEO of Conviva. “While the year was clearly defined by spikes in streaming viewing associated with COVID restrictions, the shift to streaming is anything but temporary and we anticipate global streaming viewership to continue to increase in 2021.”
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Conviva found that big screens--smart TVs and connected devices--captured more than 75% of viewing time in the quarter. Roku had an industry-leading 31% share of all TV viewing, followed by Amazon Fire TV with 19% and Samsung TV with 10%.
Advertisers followed the shift to streaming. Ad attempts rose 34% in the quarter and ad impressions rose 31%.
Conviva said that quality issues continue to plague advertisers with 40.1% of ads not delivering as expected. While viewers have shown that they want shorter ads, streaming ad lengths increased 12% in the quarter to 31.49 seconds.
“While many wish 2020 to be a year soon forgotten, it will likely be remembered as a pivotal year for streaming. The industry delivered with flourishing new services, astronomical peaks of growth, blockbusters released direct to streaming, and the rising profile of social media platforms,” the report concluded. “But for the industry to thrive, these positive trends must continue while we leave behind the anxiety-inducing news cycle that negatively impacted advertising and social media behaviors, the streaming burnout as consumers look for activities outside the home in a post-pandemic world, and the dearth of ad dollars coupled with persistent quality issues that resulted in 40% of streaming ads as missed opportunities.”
Data for Conviva’s State of Streaming report was primarily collected from the company’s sensor technology, which is embedded in 3.3 billion streaming video applications.
