TV Everywhere Clicks and Authenticated Video Views Skyrocket

Since the inception of TV Everywhere, critics could confidently claim that the authentication of subscribers on non-TV devices was failing to materialize. Over the past year, however, that has certainly turned around. Authenticated video viewing grew 217 percent over the past 12 months, and now accounts for 14 percent of all ad views on long-form content. TV Everywhere truly ramped up during 2013, with analysts reporting that one in three U.S. households that subscribe to telco TV would access multi-screen or TVE services by the end of this year.

All indicators point to TV Everywhere becoming a reality. According to online technology firm FreeWheel, this will eventually drive monetization of 30-minute and 60-minute programming and live streams across a multitude of screens. The proliferation of mobile devices is driving much of this shift to multi-channel viewing.

Consumers are accessing more types of content on tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices. As a result, content providers are figuring out new ways to bring entertainment experiences to viewers across all devices, as well as ways to monetize TV Everywhere. FreeWheel reports that digital pure-play publishers are utilizing pre-rolls on a larger percentage of short-form content, representing a 10 percent increase over last year.

TV Everywhere’s mix of content is also shifting and evolving. Long-form content is growing the fastest, led by scripted drama and sports. The 30-second ad spot is also gaining a foothold across digital channels, now representing almost half of short-form ad views and 65 percent of long-form ad views. These statistics prove that TV Everywhere is gaining ground, counter to previous analyst predictions, and is here to stay.