Commentary

40% Of Q2 Video Ad Views Came Via Smartphone, OTT

The new Video Monetization Report from FreeWheel, released today, says that smartphones now account for one in five video ad views, a stunning triple-digit increase.

Likewise, in the stunning department, nearly 40% of ad views in Q2 happened someplace other than on a laptop or desktop computer, which also shows the emerging power of mobile phones and OTT devices.

Streaming knows no daypart, exactly. Viewing of long-form and live TV does spike from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., expanding the hours of prime time. There’s also an odd kind of lull in which usage does seem to take a breather. But it’s not a jagged line up and down; more like a pleasant slope.

“The clear inflection point between desktop and laptop devices to other screens happens during the early fringe period (4 to 7 pm), coinciding with the afternoon commute, after which smartphones, tablets, and OTT devices all generate their highest hourly number of ad views,” this report says. “For the most part, consumption of premium video content is relatively daypart-agnostic, unlike linear television where there is a dramatic spike in ad views as we shift in to the traditional prime-time window of 7 and  9:00 pm.”

The FreeWheel report makes clear, though, that except for little nooks and crannies (thank you, muffin makers!) “overall consumption remains consistent throughout the day.” 

This report is the first time FreeWheel attempted to study how and when users access premium video, and concludes that there’s not one daypart occupying the majority share of viewing, as would be true with conventional television viewing patterns.

Some other nuggets:

--Q2 saw a 25% growth YOY in video views. But significantly, there was 32% growth in ad views--and that was a bigger percentage hike in ad views than in any quarter last year.

--Authentication is firmly rooted, finally. Authenticated viewing accounted for 60% of monetization in Q2, up from 35% in Q2. FreeWheel credits the 2014 FIFA World Cup last summer for goosing authentication into permanent consumer consciousness.

--Long-form and “live” are the big tickets. Programmers saw 31% of their ad views come from live viewing, and 35% from long-form programming. 

--Among the digital pure-play programmers, 80% of their ad views came from short-form programs.  I’d say perhaps that’s because short-form video is all so many digital-only sites attempt. You sow, you reap.

--Don’t chuck the laptop yet. It's still the place where 62% of digital ads are seen (up 14%, YOY) but smartphones now take a 21% share, up the standard-ridiculous 107%. OTT devices take 10%, up an even more ridiculous 194%. Watch that one grow.

--The FreeWheel report also acknowledges that Apple iOS system phones now have a bigger market share than Android, 53% to 46%.

--As long as we’re marking Apple bites in the market, during Q2, Apple TV had a 39% share of OTT video ad views, better than all competitors and  specifically better than Roku, which now captures only 32% of those views. That’s not to say Apple leads Roku overall -- just in ad views -- but it’s an indication of how things are going.
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