• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 1, 2023

In 2022, for the second consecutive year, video services around the world saw increases in the total number of video plays, but daily consumption per user and service continued to decline, according to the latest video streaming industry report from predictive analytics NPAW.

Daily consumption per user and service declined by 12% year-over-year among video-on-demand (VOD) services and 23% among linear TV services, the researcher found.

The effects of increased fragmentation reflecting the growing number of services and content choices was also evident in decline in the number of titles watched—down 7% on VOD services and 11% on linear.

The time each user spent watching VoD content on each service further decreased compared with 2021 (-12 per cent), demonstrating increased fragmentation and viewer choice, while viewers watched fewer titles (-7 per cent).

Sports were key in driving engagement. Providers with FIFA World Cup streaming rights saw an 80% average increase in total number of plays and 83% higher total playtime versus the previous six months.

Big screens continued to take share away from small screens in terms of total number of plays.

In terms of viewing experience, significant cross-industry technology upgrades have led to a stabilization — and perhaps a peak — in global VOD quality.

The average bitrate for VOD decreased marginally (-1%), suggesting the start of a plateau in quality. “Providers keen to enable the best possible streaming experiences focused on minimizing buffering by proactively increasing the Average Join Time, so that more of the program loads before the viewer can play,” NPAW explains. “However, this resulted in higher Exit Before Video Start rates, as users had more time, and greater opportunity, to disconnect before playback started.”

On the other hand, global linear TV quality continued to improve as broadcasters and operators continued to prioritize linear TV quality of experience (QoE). Average Join Time increased, suggesting that providers are implementing longer lag times to allow for higher-quality video to load and avoid mid-stream buffering.

“With competition growing fiercer by the minute, it’s business-critical for streaming services to provide the right content and a superior streaming experience if they want to attract and retain users and maintain growth,” said Ferran G. Vilaró, CEO and co-founder of NPAW. “To do so, they need to leverage their platforms’ data to the fullest extent, implementing advanced analytics solutions that combine technical performance monitoring and user journey insights.”