Time spent watching online video will expand more than 20% over the next two years to an average of 100
minutes daily, according to an updated forecast released this morning by Publicis Media's Zenith
unit.
"That’s the equivalent of watching 25 continuous days of video in 2021," Zenith Head of Forecasting Jonathan Barnard writes in the report, adding: "The amount of time people spend
viewing online video has grown rapidly across the world, at an average rate of 32% a year between 2013 and 2018, boosted by improvements in display sizes and quality of mobile devices, faster mobile
data connections, and the spread of connected TV sets."
The report finds China and Sweden currently are the heaviest nations in terms of online video usage, averaging 103 minutes daily this
year, but Canada, India, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. will catch up and reach that level by 2021.
Barnard says the rapid shift of viewing to online video also makes it the "fastest-growing
digital channel by advertising expenditure," forecasting that the global video ad market will expand 36% to $61 billion by 2021.
Conversely, the global television ad market will
erode slightly to $180 billion from $183 billion currently.
