After 22 consecutive quarters of growth, consumption on mobile devices remains stable

According to Ooyala's Video Index study for the second quarter of 2017, mobile viewing continues to be one of the main drivers of the growth of OTT (Over The Top) services.

Ooyala has published its quarterly report, Q2 2017 Global Video Index, which reveals how video consumption on mobile devices continues during this second quarter of 2017. This quarter's report also analyzes global variations in video consumption on tablets, the growth in mobile devices in international markets and the emergence of new trends in online video advertising.

For the second consecutive quarter, long-form content (length greater than 20 minutes) represents the most viewed content across all types of screens, with mobile devices being the platform chosen between 2.4 and 3.3 times more than the computer.

This fact is largely due to the growing amount of premium content that already exists for all devices. As long-form content takes center stage, a growing number of users – across all demographics – are just as comfortable watching long-form content on small-screen devices as they are on larger screens. Simply increasing the total content they consume.

Segmented by device, the report reflects that long-form content represents: 96% of the total time spent watching video on connected televisions, which has decreased slightly from 98% in the previous quarter; 82% on tablets, which has grown slightly from 81% in Q1; 53% in computers, having decreased compared to 65% in Q1; and 53% on mobile devices, represents a slight decrease compared to 55% in Q1.

Video consumption

Mobile viewing remains one of the main drivers of growth for OTT (Over The Top) services, despite stagnating growth in the second quarter of 2017. Although mobile views were dominant in all regions, Ooyala has found that views in Asia Pacific make up close to three-quarters of total views at 72%, the highest in the world, a difference of 21.9% compared to the consumption of North American viewers. On the other hand, EMEA with 12.6% and Asia Pacific with 14.1% are the regions with the highest percentages of video consumption on tablets.

Differentiating by region, the report concludes that in EMEA, mobile viewing represents 57.7% of total views, growing from 54.1% in the first quarter. For its part, in North America, mobile devices account for a little more than half of video views, for the fourth consecutive quarter. In APAC, 72% of video views were from mobile devices, growing from 61% the previous quarter. However, in Latin America, mobile views reached 56%. After several quarters of growth in the percentage of mobile views, 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 8.4% in the first quarter of 2017, this quarter mobile views only increased by 0.1%.

Jim O'Neill Ooyala, Principal Analyst and Strategic Media Consultant, has highlighted that "today's video consumers are looking to complement, or replace, their traditional entertainment video sources; driving the growth of original content that has been promoted on over-the-top services primarily among audiences who want the content when, where and on the device of their choice." He said "That content increasingly needs to be launched globally, to markets that speak different languages, have different social customs, and even different government regulations. The sector is becoming increasingly complicated, with higher stakes in service and content, with the need to seek intelligent solutions becoming more pressing every day.”

Finally, the Video Index Q2 2017 study shows that the growth of mobile devices in emerging markets – Specifically in APAC and Latin America, where total views on mobile devices are 72% and 56% respectively – continues to gain access to Premium content by lowering mobile and broadband prices. In developed markets such as North America (50%) and EMEA (57.7%) they maintain a significant portion of playback on mobile devices as Millennials turn to these as their first option.