Conviva, the real-time measurement and intelligence platform for streaming TV, has released its State of the Streaming TV Industry Report for Q3 2018, which shows huge growth in global TV streaming. According to the data, a 52 per cent jump in plays and 63 per cent growth in total viewing hours was recorded year-over-year (YoY), including a major increase in traffic during the World Cup tournament.

The latest data on streaming TV consumption and quality demonstrates that viewers increasingly demand a seamless streaming experience, and publishers are rising to the challenge to deliver higher overall quality of experience. As viewers become less tolerant of a poor experience, they’re shifting to platforms and devices that offer a better experience, trading PC viewing in favor of connected TVs and individual publisher apps for virtual MVPDs with bundled offerings.

“Streaming TV consumption shows no signs of slowing down, and publishers have stepped up to the plate, delivering better quality and reliability that viewers have come to expect,” said Conviva CEO Bill Demas. “The demand for quality is pushing connected TVs to the top in terms of device share, commanding more than 50 per cent of total viewing hours at the expense of PCs that have lost 7 per cent while mobile remains relatively flat.”

Other key takeaways from Conviva’s Q3 report reveal:

• Live sports streaming has surged, as viewer confidence in streaming TV grows and providers deliver improved quality. NFL streaming in September alone accounted for roughly 3 per cent of total streaming plays and viewing hours in the US, as more fans than ever elected to stream NFL games.
• Connected TV plays and viewing hours more than doubled. After a run at the top of the chart, mobile growth has slowed in favor of connected TVs, which experienced a 145 per cent growth in plays and a 103 per cent growth in viewing hours.
• Significant overall improvements seen in global quality. Video start failures drastically lowered (down 33 per cent), as did buffering rates (down 41 per cent), while picture quality (bitrate) substantially increased (up 25 per cent).
• Virtual MVPDs are becoming more attractive, with 292 per cent more plays and 212 per cent more viewing hours YoY in the US, drawing significant share away from publisher apps by offering bundled content with better quality delivery, resulting in higher engagement.
• Long-form content is becoming more popular, experiencing 111 per cent growth in plays, 93 per cent growth in viewing hours, with their increased share now accounting for more than half of all global plays and viewing hours.
• Rokuremains the leader among Conviva’s customer base of connected TV devices with a steady 40 per cent share of viewing hours, yet Amazon Fire TV is growing rapidly with a 500 per cent increase in share of viewing hours.

“It’s clear that viewers are less tolerant of a poor experience, as 13 per cent of US and 16 per cent of global viewer attempts result in an exit before the video starts,” Demas said. “Providers must increasingly focus on the streaming TV experience to match viewers’ rising standards.”

Data for this report is collected using Conviva’s proprietary sensor technology, which is embedded directly within 3 billion streaming video applications. Conviva currently measures 1 trillion data events per day for many of the world’s top streaming TV providers, across 180 countries and four continents. In this report, the YoY data from Q3 2018 as compared to Q3 2017 was normalised based on Conviva’s consistent customer base.

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