TDG: Latino, social-mobile key to US video revenue growth
March 2, 2017
According to research consultancy TDG, video operators and networks searching for new revenue growth must focus on the two key trends: the advance of Latino viewing and the rise of Social-Mobile (SoMo) video.
According to Joel Espelien, TDG senior advisor and author of TDG’s report, growth in the US video market is harder and harder to come by. An aging population, combined with slow population growth in general, ensures that the video industry can no longer rely on a rising tide of young viewers to lift all boats. That being said, the US Latino population will grow from 56 million in 2016 to 82 million in 2030, an increase of 46 per cent.
TDG forecasts that all age cohorts of the US Latino population will continue to grow, reflecting a barbell distribution in which growth is strongest among the youngest and oldest cohorts. Nevertheless, the US Latino population will remain significantly younger than the US population as a whole.
Add to this the fact that US Latinos over-index on a host of video viewing behaviours, most notably when it comes to Broadband Video, where 31 per cent watch more than 20 hours per week, almost twice the rate among Caucasian viewers (17 per cent). As well, 51 per cent of Latinos place high value on multi-device access (vs. 29 per cent of Caucasians), which translates across the board into more widespread consumption of Broadband Video services. The use of smartphone video, in particular, is significantly greater among Latinos than Caucasians, with 34 per cent (vs. 15 per cent) watching smartphone video daily, 39 per cent (vs. 18 per cent) watching SVoD on their smartphones at least weekly, and 46 per cent (vs. 35 per cent) watching SoMo video weekly.
Consequently, TDG forecasts that viewing of Broadband Video among US Latinos will more than double by 2030, with smartphone video viewing leading the way, tripling among this segment over the same period. The biggest driver of this increase, in turn, will be social networking applications (SoMo) video.