Families are set for a multi-screen Christmas according to Ooyala’s principal analyst Jim O’Neill.
He predicts young children, tweens and teens will be busy watching content via their tablets and smartphones as the family gathers around the main TV for the big Christmas specials.
Meanwhile, the older generation will also be looking at their devices, to check where they might have seen an actor before, or to check up on the plot.
“Grandparents are likely to favour a more traditional approach – watching one programme on one screen,” says O’Neill.
He predicts the presents unwrapped on Christmas morning are also likely to have an impact on viewing habits: “Many parents will have picked up tablets and phones over Black Friday and Cyber Monday as presents. We may see a boost in people testing out new devices by tuning into streaming services and downloading shows to watch on the journey home.
“This will also set up trends for 2019,” continues O’Neill. “Consumers continued to watch video on mobile devices at a record pace in 2018, as global starts on smartphones and tablets topped 62 per cent of all video plays at one point. Content producers and distributors will be keeping a close eye on new devices and their sales numbers to see how they should be adapting their strategy for next year.”
