NPAW has released its H1 2025 global streaming report.
Publishing its findings on the state of the streaming video industry, the global technology and innovation intelligence provider has revealed the data and trends that shaped the first half of 2025. The NPAW Video Streaming Industry Report H1 2025 highlighted gains in quality across VoD and linear TV globally, with most regions experiencing significant improvements in buffer ratio quality, join times and average bitrate the result of ongoing investment by broadcasters and OTTs.
In addition to these improvements, the report contained a number of key findings:
- Global VoD device engagement was dominated by TVs and set top boxes with Q1 demonstrating the highest playtime per user across most devices.
- Compared with the same period last year, both playtime per user and titles per user dropped in some regions, equating to a slight global decrease in the figures.
- Join times for linear TV fell by 16 per cent year-on-year.
- Europe and the Middle East reflected the strongest regional engagement across linear TV, with European viewership leading the way at more than 60 minutes per user per day.
- Data showed audiences prefer large screens for lengthy viewing periods, with the top two device types, TVs and STBs accounting for more than 87 per cent of viewership.
Commenting on the data, NPAW’s CEO and co-founder Per Ferran G. Villaro, said, “The first half of 2025 displayed some remarkable improvements in quality KPIs across the globe. With LATAM, the Middle East and North America showing the greatest gains, most regions have seen an upward shift in buffer ratio quality, average bitrate and join times. These are clear indicators of ongoing investment in infrastructure by OTTs, telco providers and broadcasters alike.
We notice the wider adoption of smart TVs and set top boxes as the devices of choice for viewers, especially when it comes to long format content. Quality metrics on these devices, by and large, are greatly improved over H1 2024.
Again, on STBs and TVs, we see greater engagement than on other devices – 69 per cent total for VoD, and an incredible 87 per cent for linearTV. The majority of viewers are choosing to consume content on the large screen.”
The full report is available to download at https://npaw.com/
