This year mobile devices will overtake ‘fixed devices’ to become the main platform for viewing online video, according to Zenith’s Online Video Forecasts 2016.
Consumers around the world will spend an average of 19.7 minutes a day viewing online videos on smartphones and tablets – a 39% year on year increase – compared to a static 16 minutes on desktop computers and smart TV sets.
The report, which covers 57 key markets, forecasts mobile video consumption to grow 33% in 2017 and 27% in 2018, to reach 33.4 minutes a day – accounting for 64% of all online video consumption in 2018.
Meanwhile, fixed video consumption will begin to slow, growing 13% in 2017 and 3% in 2018 to reach 18.7 minutes.
Online video adspend is also set to grow by almost 20% a year, reaching US$30.1 billion in 2018. This will increase online video’s share of digital display adspend to 31.3%, up from 26.7% in 2015.
However, although most online video consumption is mobile, the majority of expenditure on online video advertising still goes to fixed devices and will continue to do so in 2017.
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Zenith estimates that fixed video ads will account for 68% of all online video advertising this year, down from 75% last year. However, mobile advertising is expected to equal fixed in 2018.
“The spread of mobile devices and high-speed connections means consumers will have online video content at their fingertips throughout the day,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at Zenith.
“This creates new opportunities for advertisers to communicate with consumers, using online video ads to combine the brand-building power of audiovisual advertising with pin-point targeting and personalisation.”
The report also notes that online video can add incremental reach to TV advertising, particularly among young and affluent consumers who tend to be the heaviest users of online video.
In 2015 television and online video accounted for 48.5% of global display, up from 43.8% in 2010. Zenith expects the figure to reach 49.6% by 2018.
