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Online viewing set to exceed one hour a day in 2018

New data included in Zenith Online Forecasts 2018 report

The average amount of time viewers spend watching content online is expected to reach 67 minutes a day in 2018, according to the Zenith Online Forecasts 2018 report.

That’s an increase from 56 minutes in 2017.

The report suggests that by 2020 the average person will be spending 84 minutes a day watching videos online. By then, China will have the largest amount of online viewers, with the average person spending 105 minutes a day, followed by Russia (102 minutes) and the UK (101 minutes).

Global online video consumption grew by 11 minutes a day in 2017,  and is expected to grow by an average of nine minutes a day each year to 2020. It accounts for almost all the growth in total internet use, and is growing faster than media consumption overall.

Globally, Zenith estimates that online video ad spend grew 20 per cent in 2017, to reach $27 billion. Growth peaked at 36 per cent in 2014 and has fallen steadily since then, but still remains very high. Zenith forecasts 19 per cent growth in 2018, and an average of 17 per cent annual growth to 2020, when online video advertising spend is expected to reach $43 billion. Video’s share of online display advertising is rising steadily: it accounted for 27 per cent of display ad spend in 2017, and it is expected to account for 30 per cent in 2020.

The supply of online video audiences has been growing ahead of demand in recent years: online video viewing grew 91 per cent between 2015 and 2017, while ad spend grew 52 per cent. The report noted online video advertising is still only a fraction of the size of television advertising, but because television is stuck at 0 per cent to 2 per cent annual growth, this fraction is rising rapidly. The online video ad market was 10 per cent of the size of the television ad market in 2015, and 14 per cent in 2017. By 2020 online video ad spend is expected to be 23 per cent of the size of television ad spend.

According to Zenith, online video and television complement each other well, with most brands initially using online video to add incremental reach to their existing television campaigns. But with the rapid growth of online viewing more brands are planning television and online video together to optimise frequency.