Report: Global streaming up 57% YOY
May 6, 2020
Global streaming media intelligence specialist Conviva has released its quarterly State of Streaming report for Q1 2020, revealing large increases in viewing, a significant rise in missed advertising opportunities, unexpected social leaders on TikTok and the continued dominance of Roku in the connected TV space.
Streaming consumption habits changed significantly in Q1 2020, particularly in the month of March as stay-at-home orders became widespread and live sports were suspended. The quarter saw large increases in overall streaming viewing, up 57 per cent globally year over year. Growth was led by Europe, up 70 per cent, and the Americas, up 57 per cent, while Asia and Africa saw 30 per cent and 25 per cent viewing growth respectively. As viewing habits changed globally, on-demand content increased 79 per cent over the year, representing a 72 per cent share of total viewing time worldwide.
Conviva analysed more than 12.5 billion ad attempts in Q1 2020 and found 46.3 per cent of all streaming ads represented missed opportunities due to unfilled ads or ad failures. This was an increase of 26.9 per cent as compared to Q4, largely due to a reduction in advertising and brand sensitivity to running ads adjacent to tragic Covid-19 news content, as well as an increase in quality errors. As with poor quality, unfilled ads directly impact viewer experience as viewers often wait while multiple requests go unfilled.
“Nearly half of all streaming ads are now missed opportunities, signifying a significant – and likely prolonged – drop in advertising spend due to economic uncertainties and a lack of consumer spending,” said Bill Demas, CEO of Conviva. “Companies that are not highly reliant on advertising will record increasing success over the next quarter. Advertising dollars will likely return to streaming with a vengeance when live sports reemerges this fall.”
While the volume of sports-related social content was down in year over year Q1 2020, sports organisations still managed to drive increases in engagement. Premier League scored the greatest increase in engagements per post and engagements per video up 146 per cent and 142 per cent respectively, followed by the NBA with 119 per cent and 126 per cent increases respectively.
Conviva also identified which teams outperformed the field in engagements per social video. For example, unlikely suspects from smaller media markets, including the Milwaukee Bucks, Cincinnati Reds, Winnipeg Jets, and Orlando City Soccer Club, joined ratings juggernaut Dallas Cowboys as league-leaders in engagement on TikTok. In the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter titles. The Pittsburgh Penguins conquered those same platforms for the NHL. Other leagues saw more disparity across the different platforms, with the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Yankees each earning a top spot on two social networks—a feat the LA Galaxy also netted in MLS.
Roku, the leader in connected TV devices with a 44 per cent share of global connected TV viewing time, was the only device to net quality improvements across the board, with video start failures plunging 49 per cent, 37 per cent higher picture quality, buffering improvements of 33 per cent, and 15 per cent faster video start times. As a result, Roku also boosted viewing hours by 55 per cent year over year.
Across all devices, global streaming quality continued to improve with buffering down 27 per cent, picture quality up 25 per cent, and 14 per cent fewer video start failures year over year. Mobile reported the most progress with 38 per cent less buffering, 27 per cent higher picture quality and 13 per cent fewer start failures. Mobile also netted the largest viewing growth year over year in Q1, up 60 per cent, compared to 51 per cent growth for connected TV and just 22 per cent growth for PCs.