Analysis: Turks prolific viewers of mobile video

In a 13-country study by Ampere Analysis, Turkish Internet users are revealed as prolific smartphone viewers of online video content. More than three quarters (76 per cent) of respondents in Turkey view online video on their smartphones compared to an all country average of 58 per cent. More than four in ten (43 per cent) Turks view online video daily on their smartphones, significantly ahead of the global average of just one quarter (25 per cent).

Tablet viewing is also high in Turkey. Almost one fifth (19 per cent) of Turkish Internet users view online video daily on a tablet compared to 15 per cent of respondents globally. Viewing via a computer is another area where Turks buck the global trend. Eight in 10 (81) per cent, of Turks watch online video via a computer compared to 64 per cent of respondents in all countries.

1. The facts: online video in Turkey
   More than three quarters of Turkish internet users (76 per cent) live in households with at least one tablet.
2. Almost one in five access online video via the device daily, and a further 17 per cent do so weekly.
3. But usage of other connected devices is lower than average – Turkish consumers are much less likely than average to have games consoles, Blu-ray players and OTT streaming boxes/devices such as Apple TV or Chromecast.
4. YouTube tops the list of video services used in the past month by Turkish consumers. Just over three quarters of Turkish Internet users had watched videos on YouTube (76 per cent) compared to an all countries’ average of 66 per cent.
5. Turkish Internet users are big social video fans and far more likely to have watched videos on Facebook in the last month – over half had done so compared to an average across the other markets surveyed of 32 per cent.
6. Similarly, Periscope usage is high in Turkey. Internet users here are five times more likely to have used Twitter’s live video service in the last month (15 per cent compared with 3 per cent).
7. In contrast with other markets, Netflix viewing is low in Turkey, trailing in 11^th place. Just 11 per cent of Turkish viewers had used the service in the past month compared to 24 per cent of viewers overall.
   Catch-up TV services and free online video services are favoured by Turkish viewers, particularly in the 5pm-8pm and 8pm-12am viewing segments.

Richard Broughton, Research Director at Ampere Analysis, says: “Turkish internet users enjoy accessing online video content and are using a variety of devices to enable them to do so throughout the day. With 97 per cent of Turkish internet users living in a household in which someone owns a smartphone, smartphones are the clear ‘go to’” device for accessing online video content. But we also see an unusually high level of viewing via the computer – largely reflecting lower uptake of other connected device types such as streaming boxes or sticks. Meanwhile, the prevalence of strong local streaming services from telcos, widespread usage of social video, and the strength and importance of locally-produced content, means that services such as Netflix and Amazon have a lot of work to do to gain traction among Turkish consumers.”