Thanks in large part to live sports and TV-show premieres, video viewing via TV Everywhere platforms has doubled in the past year, according to Adobe’s Q1 2016 Digital Video Benchmark Report.
The study, an aggregation of data across 1.2 billion TVE authentications and 300-plus TVE sites and apps, also found that authenticated viewing surged 58% over the previous quarter.
Though viewing on connected-TV platforms remained stable in Q1, mobile remains the primary platform to access TVE content, Adobe said. The trend indicates that consumers are using smartphones and tablets in “lean-back mode” at increased rates, per Adobe.
The iPhone and iPad continued to lead TVE authentications during Q1 among individual platforms, followed by Android devices, PCs, Apple TV boxes, and Roku players. The share of iOS devices is down 22% year-on-year, though, while authentications on TV-connected devices, browsers and Android mobile devices all saw gains.
Among other findings, Adobe said the vast majority of TVE viewing occurs in one location, indicating that there’s minimal “on-the-go” behavior.
About 71% of all TVE viewers in the study watched from one location, while 72% of mobile TVE viewers did the same, amplifying the aforementioned lean-back trend on smartphones.
The use of disparate devices presents an opportunity for a single location-based authentication system, Adobe said.
And that sort of work is well underway. Earlier this month, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and Adobe said they had developed a “unified” TV-authentication sign-on process for in-home and out-of-home access. A cross-section of programmers and pay TV providers have already committed to support development of the emerging standard in the next six to 12 months, including A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications, Disney and ESPN Media Networks, Fox Networks Group, Mediacom Communications, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks Interactive, Turner Broadcasting System and Viacom.
