Streaming TV consumption increased globally by 89 per cent in 2018, according to a new report from Conviva.
However, the report also found that there was a 7 per cent year-on-year increase in viewers who will stop watching a stream if the quality isn’t good enough, meaning 14.6 per cent in viewers giving up on a stream before the video had even begun. Abandon rates were even higher, up 16.7 per cent from 11.2 per cent when viewers were attempting to watch live content.
The report said 2018 saw a drop in video start failures of 34 per cent; there was 23 per cent better picture quality, measured in higher resolution in terms of bitrate; and 9 per cent faster video start times. Buffering also improved by 23 per cent in 2018, but this still translated to 25 seconds of waiting for an hour-long show.
In terms of watching streaming content, connected TVs saw a 148 per cent growth in plays and 56 per cent share in viewing hours, up from 47 per cent year-on-year. Mobile saw a 94 per cent growth in plays.
Across all types of content, nearly a third of global viewing hours were watched on the weekends in 2018, with Sunday being the most popular day. Fridays were the least popular day of the week for overall streaming.
