The streaming industry accelerates its takeoff

Brightcove's Q2 2020 Global Video Index shows that consumption of news and entertainment content has nearly doubled (40%) from Q1 (23%).

Brightcove has published the edition Brightcove Q2 2020 Global Video Index Entertainment and Media Edition, which finds that real-time television (OTT) streaming of entertainment content continued to dominate around the world, even as governments began to relax stay-at-home restrictions.

Data suggests that consumers' media consumption habits may be permanently shifting away from linear television, cementing streaming as the preferred option for entertainment viewing.

Brightcove's Q2 2020 Global Video Index shows that consumption of news and entertainment content has almost doubled (40%) compared to the first quarter (23%), a significant figure considering that video viewing growth in the second quarter is usually slower than in the first. Considering the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, the number of viewings overall has increased by more than 30%.

Jim O’Neill, lead analyst and author of the Brightcove Global Video Index, highlights that "the streaming industry is exploding faster than we've ever seen before. While much can be attributed to COVID-19 keeping people at home, at-home orders do not account for all of the recent growth. There has been significant growth within the video industry, leading to more streaming of video content as a whole; OTT services like Netflix added nearly 26 million of viewers and Disney+ exceeded 54.5 million subscribers in the second quarter.”

It's also changing where consumers choose to view their content. Connected TVs saw the largest growth in the second quarter (160 percent year over year), indicating a resurgence of large screens as the preferred display medium for entertainment.