Connected TVs Saw a 312% Increase in Views Over-The-Top for Sports Content, with the Highest Completion Rates of Any Device

Brightcove Inc., the leading provider of cloud services for video, published the Q3 Brightcove Global Video Index, a report that analyzes hundreds of millions of recent data points from Brightcove’s media customers globally to provide insights into how viewers are watching video content, which devices they are using, and what types of content they are consuming across these various devices.

“With sports content becoming a fan favorite to view on all devices, streaming services understand they must evolve alongside consumers’ viewing habits and expectations to keep viewers’ attention. In Q3, for example, we saw streaming views on smartphones increase 46% year-over-year, with connected TVs close behind at 34%.”

Streaming Reaches New Sports Audiences

The Q3 Video Index report findings show sports content is steadily moving into a major role among streamers — with viewers watching on every device, in and out of the home. And a recent survey from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found 56% of consumers said they’d pay more for a streaming channel than their current pay-TV sports offering. Furthermore, Brightcove found strong global consumption growth in streamed sports content, with more than half (54%) of sports content views beginning on smartphones globally, up 49% from a year ago.

“Sports rights are among the most expensive video rights in the world today, but that’s not stopping streaming services from going after them aggressively,” said Jim O’Neill, Principal Analyst, Brightcove, and author of the Q3 2019 Global Video Index. “With sports content becoming a fan favorite to view on all devices, streaming services understand they must evolve alongside consumers’ viewing habits and expectations to keep viewers’ attention. In Q3, for example, we saw streaming views on smartphones increase 46% year-over-year, with connected TVs close behind at 34%.”

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Viewing Behavior Across Devices Impacts Completion Rates

The data shows viewers watch sports content on all devices, with smartphones getting 54% of all sports video views. Other findings the report uncovered include:

• Completion rates hover near 42% on smartphones, the lowest for any device — an indication that mobile devices are used primarily to “touch base” with an event, check scores, watch highlights, and the like.
• Computers account for 40% of sports viewing and have a completion rate of 60%, which is the second-best of all devices.
• Only 6% of video views are on tablet devices, and that’s after a 31% increase in views in Q3, and a 41% increase in Q2. Tablets have a completion rate just slightly higher than smartphones (45%).
• Connected TV views made up less than 1% of all sports video views, completion rates are the highest among all devices (68%), and average viewing minutes are 4x higher than any other device.

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Furthermore, the length of content also impacts completion rates. Connected TVs see the highest completion rates in medium-form content (75%), followed by short-form content (71%), long-form content (66%), and lastly, ultra-long-form content (36%). While the report’s findings show that bigger screens lead to higher completion rates, every device’s completion rates exceed 30% for all content lengths.

“Sports content is not the only content that saw year-over-year gains, we saw increases in video views across every device and in nearly every region,” O’Neill continued. “Time spent watching video was up; video completion was up and, regionally and globally video engagement was up. Simply put, over-the-top video is center stage, something content owners and distributors need to focus on — especially if they hope to attract younger viewers.”

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