Conviva, the OTT video optimisation specialist, has released the findings of its third annual Viewer Experience Report, which found that even as audiences swell and potential subscription revenue balloons, the challenges to building a sustainable OTT service are piling up. Consumers no longer simply expect a service to work, they demand that it provide a high-end experience. Delivering a top-notch experience to each and every viewer has never been more complex — nor more fundamental — to acquiring and retaining an audience.

“Viewers used to be content with an OTT service if the video began playing at all – this is no longer the case,” said Hui Zhang, CEO, Conviva. “Consumers now demand a multi-dimensional experience that provides superior picture fidelity, zero resolution volatility, and TV-like viewing quality, and will abandon the streams that do not deliver. OTT providers need to utilise an iterative publishing process to ensure the optimised experience consumers demand.”

Key findings of the report include:

– Video start failures are diminishing but other factors remain relatively unchanged: Video start failures have decreased by almost half to an all-time low of 2.6 per cent while buffering and low resolution experiences remained relatively unchanged from 2013.

– Picture fidelity continues to rise: Worldwide picture fidelity grew 30 per cent in 2014, as picture fidelity increases, so does time spent consuming content.

– Playback interruptions are still enemy No. 1: 14 minutes of viewer engagement is lost on average for each 1 per cent of interruptions experienced.

– Multi-screen viewing is at an all-time high: While average household size has been shrinking, the number of devices in use within each household has risen, with the average household of three people using two devices simultaneously during prime time.

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