Samsung: UK Smart TV streaming overtakes linear viewership
September 22, 2020
Findings from a Samsung Ads Europe report reveal that streaming on Samsung TVs in the UK now accounts for more TV viewing time than linear TV. Data from January to June 2020 shows streaming time rising to 59 per cent, and overtaking linear for the very first time. This represents an increase of 38 minutes more of streaming viewing time per day.
Samsung Ads Europe, the media and advertising division of Samsung Electronics, conducted its first European ‘Behind The Screens’ report on viewership habits across its TV devices across five European countries; the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
According to Samsung, it is important to note that in the UK, linear TV viewing time has grown in the first half of 2020 (+11 per cent increase in hours per TV per day), but it has been outpaced by the growth in TV streaming (+36 per cent). Viewers are spending significantly more time watching streamed content: on average, Brits watch streamed content for 43 minutes per day longer than linear TV. The UK leads Europe in this respect, with 59 per cent of our TV time dedicated to streaming compared to 55 per cent in France and 52 per cent in Spain.
Video on Demand categories
With VoD accounting for a large part of viewership, AVoD saw the largest growth at +30 per cent and made up an average of 1 hour and 39 minutes per day of viewing time for UK consumers. SVoD grew by +26 per cent, Broadcaster VoD (BVoD) by +9 per cent and TVoD remained consistent at 0 per cent growth.
Gaming
Gaming has also seen an ongoing increase in the UK, with gaming time up by 39 per cent in June when compared to January 2020. In fact, the average British console user is gaming for an impressive 2 hours 32 minutes per day, as of June 2020. Compared to our European neighbours in Spain, Italy, Germany and France, Brits spend the most time per day gaming on average.
The streaming split
While the vast majority of UK viewers (72 per cent) still watch both linear and OTT, there is a growing per centage (14 per cent) of viewers that are “streamers only”.
“The ongoing growth of streaming consumption is a significant trend for advertisers to be aware of,” notes Alex Hole, Vice President of Samsung Ads Europe. “Streaming is no longer just an emerging behaviour, but rather a central viewership method. As such, advertisers need to adjust strategies to reach all TV viewers as they consume a wider selection of content from both linear and OTT sources. Viewers are still showing up to linear TV, but advertisers should consider avoiding over-exposure to this audience to the detriment of reaching the rapidly growing streamer audience base”.
“A media plan that understands the importance of targeted advertising across the connected TV environment is pivotal for advertisers looking to reach consumers across all their viewership habits. This is heightened as households move seamlessly from linear to VoD services.”