Connected TV is Driving Growth in Streaming

A recent report from Conviva shows that streaming viewing hours grew 89% globally from 2017 and 2018. In Q4 2018 alone viewing hours were up 165% over Q4 2017. While early streaming had primarily been done on PCs and mobile devices, streaming via connected TV has overtaken both. In 2018, streaming on a connected TV increased 148% compared to the 94% growth experienced by mobile device viewing and 1% growth in PC viewing.

Connected TV may be driving viewing time, but what’s driving connected TV usage? According to Conviva, virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) gained 2.1 million subscribers 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th quarters of 2018, attributing to the increase in viewing hours.  

Additional findings include:

• Connected TV accounts for 56% of total streaming hours for premium video, 42% for Roku devices and 18% for Fire TV.
• According to data from Roku, active Roku users stream about 3 hours per day.
• vMVPD viewing hours are expected to increase 74% faster than video publisher apps and shows higher average minutes per play than publisher apps.
• Live streaming hours grew 65%, primarily in news and sports. Political events drove an increase in news streaming while the Olympics and World Cup boosted sports streaming.

For more findings from Conviva’s 2018 State of Streaming Industry report, click here.