After falling from peak levels in March when people started staying home to slow the spread of the coronavirus, time spent with over-the-top video bounced back in July, according to Adobe.
While video starts are still down 2% (following an 11% dip in June), time spent is back up to March levels, rising 28%.
Adobe said the drop in video start indicates that after months of searching for something to watch, there is less content surfing and fewer viewers who are new to streaming.
Video completion trends are better. Completion rates began a steady decline in early 2019, as consumers were flush with a growing array of services and original content. By the start of the year, completion rates were still down. Adobe said rates began to go up in April and that has continued into July, when they were up 11% from a year ago.
“In a single sitting, 63% of consumers say that they always/often finish a piece of video content from start to finish," Adobe said.
Since the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders, mobile use has been growing for shopping applications, but video consumption of non user generated content is not growing on mobile. In fact, in July use of mobile was down 10% and usage on desktops was down 18% while OTT video rose 116%.
Looking at video time spent paints a similar story. OTT is the primary growth driver, with significant peaks in months like April.
Time spent on mobile has been in decline for the last three months (May-July). And desktop has not been a growth driver either.
Consumers find they have too many streaming options, and it is becoming overwhelming, Adobe found.
In a survey of over 1,000 people: 40% felt there were too many apps and services to stream video, and that it was difficult to manage (29% did not agree; 31% were neutral). 60% reported having 1 to 3 services, while 35% had between 4 to 7. Around 6% had more than 8.
Since March, 54% reported not purchasing any new subscriptions or services.
