• by Wayne Friedman , March 23, 2018

Advertising and video views on premium video platforms -- especially OTT, video-on-demand and smartphone platforms -- continue to see double-digit percentage gains, with live content growing.

Total video views were up 26% in 2017, with advertising views 22% higher, according to FreeWheel, the video management company owned by Comcast Corp. These gains are similar to previous years: a 26% rise in video views; a 24% gain in ad views in 2016; and a 32% climb for video views and 30% rise in ad views in 2015.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, Freewheel says OTT had 31% of share of premium video ad views (up 13% in the same period a year before); desktop computers, a 22% share (rising 10%); set-top box ad-supported video on demand, a 19% share (up 35%); smartphones at 19% (45% growth); and tablets at a 9% share (climbing 23% ).                              
By the end of 2017, full-episodes were 53% of premium digital video ad view share -- 96% coming from entertainment content. The live content share rose to 31%, and was the fastest-growing segment. Sports-dominated live content viewing accounted for 77% share of ad views.

Video clips were just 16% of ad views, which Freewheel says is the result of publishers’ efforts to decrease ad clutter around short-form content.