Early Q1 data shows global news stories driving a surge in streaming news

Brightcove Inc., the leading provider of cloud services for video, published the Q4 2019 Brightcove Global Video Index, a report that analyzes hundreds of millions of recent data points from Brightcove’s global platform to provide insights into how viewers are watching video content, which devices they use, and the types of content they consume across various devices.

The Q4 Index found consumers increasingly turn to streaming services for entertainment and, even more so, for news. And, in times of natural disasters and health emergencies, those numbers increase even more. During the first two weeks of March, for example, global viewers have consumed 31% more news streams than they did during the same period a year ago. On March 13, the day President Trump declared a national emergency, the number of video views increased 66% from March 13, 2019 – which is the most news-driven video views in Q1 over the past two years. Time spent watching streaming news videos increased by 47%.

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The Index found that media and entertainment consumers globally are increasingly watching video on smartphones, compared to other devices such as desktop computers, tablets, and connected TVs. This data was measured using a number of engagement factors including video views, time watched, and video completion rates.

“Broadcasters used to be the go-to source for developing news stories, but the COVID-19 crisis has shown that consumers eagerly turn to streaming news sources for the latest updates – as well as in-depth coverage of news that’s important to them,” said Jim O’Neill, Principal Analyst at Brightcove. “With streaming, news providers can update news on the fly, provide broader, deeper coverage, and pull in points of view from around the globe. And, they don’t need to worry about fitting reports into arbitrary time slots. They have the flexibility to truly tell a better story.”

Video Views

Over the course of 18 months, video views on computers have decreased by 12%, with smartphones being the beneficiary. Tablets and smartphones have seen the total number of views increase more than 43%, with smartphones alone making up 54.6% of all video views – up from 40% just 18 months ago.

Other notable trends the report uncovered include:

• Tablet’s share of all views declined between Q3 and Q4 to 7.8% from 8.2%. That decline follows on the heels of a year-over-year decline between Q3 2018 (11.3%) and Q3 2019 (10.4%). These declines can be attributed to the rise in video views on smartphones.
• Over the past 12 months, the number of video plays on tablets increased by more than 20%, while the number of plays on smartphones jumped more than three times that amount to 77%. The number of plays on computers was down 10%.
• Video views on connected TVs were up nearly 25% in the quarter from one year ago, and nearly double what they were in Q2 2018.

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Video Time Watched

Time watched, which is classified as the amount of time spent on each device, increased globally by 23%. The largest screen in most homes today is still the TV, therefore it stands to reason that viewers spend more time watching content on TV than any other screen – especially as live sports and premium content becomes available over-the-top.

Additional trends the data revealed include:

• Time spent viewing content on smartphones increased 30%, with tablets up 6% and desktop computers being the only devices that saw total viewing time decline (down about 2%).
• Total viewing time increased in most regions.
• Time spent watching content on connected TVs was up 114% globally – which is more than double what it was one year ago.

Video Completion Rates

A shift in viewing habits have also impacted completion rates on smartphones, tablets, and computers, with computers remaining the device with the highest completion rate (59%). This is likely because computers have the most short-form content, however, that number has decreased slightly over the past three quarters – with Q2 and Q3 both seeing completion rates of 61%.

On the contrary, connected TVs usually show only long-form content, as there’s virtually no short-form content (0-5 mins) consumed on connected TVs in any region. This has resulted in lower completion rates on connected TVs (below 40% globally) than on any other device (with the exception of the Japan/Korea region).

Other notable trends the report uncovered include:

• Smartphones and tablets were both just below 50% in completion rates (46% and 47% respectively) in Q4.
• Since Q2, smartphone completion rates have increased from 44%, while tablets have seen completion rates decline from 52%.

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