TV Everywhere is Becoming Just That: Everywhere
Technology is appearing to catch up to convenience, a trend that is evidenced by recent research that indicates that more than 75 billion videos were watched across a spectrum of devices and platforms in 2013 as TV Everywhere—the notion that consumers should be able to watch programming from any Internet-connected device whenever they’d like—continues to become more pervasive.
“We are living in a golden age of television,” reads the Q4 2013 FreeWheel Video Monetization Report. “Content creators continue to push the boundaries in producing high-quality programming, while equal degrees of innovation have increased content distribution and improved viewer experience. The digital landscape offers an embarrassment of riches: Consumers are now discovering, revisiting or binge-viewing programs across a wide variety of screen and platforms.”
According to the report, content grew across all lengths, formats and platforms during that time period. What’s more, ad views on long-form content—programming that is at least 20 minutes long—saw an 86-percent spike year-to-year, while short content (programming up to five minutes long) and mid-form content (five to 20 minutes) saw ad view growth of 22 percent and 13 percent respectively. Taken together, the data reinforces the notion that TV Everywhere really is just television after all—keep in mind programming over 20 minutes saw the biggest increase in ad views—and that there’s a lot of money to be made in the space.
Additionally, the report indicated that live content viewing exploded year-to-year, boasting a 148-percent growth rate during that time. That growth was due to increases in viewing live sports, news and simulcasts. What’s more, while most TV Everywhere ads were viewed on a desktop (81 percent), mobile phones (10 percent) and tablets (seven percent) grew the most year-to-year, swelling by 178 percent and 136 percent respectively.
Finally, by a score of 3.2 ads per break to 2.8 ads per break, viewers of TV Everywhere content were greeted with more ads during the fourth quarter of 2013 when compared to the year prior. Still, ad completion rates remain substantial.