Let’s face it: It’s not always easy to understand what your cable customers want. Trends can change very quickly, and operators often struggle to understand which are worth paying attention to and which are not.

Take something simple like video length, for instance. Should operators be offering customers short, easily-digestible content or longer features?

As one new study shows, operators would be wise to offer a mix of both.

The study indicates that for the first time, long-form video — or video exceeding 20 minutes in duration — now makes up the majority of time spent watching video on every screen (63 percent). And 98 percent of all time spent watching video on connected televisions is spent on long-form video which is a big increase from the year before.

Long-form video is also widely used on tablets (81 percent), on computers (65 percent) and smartphones (55 percent).

At the same time, though, short-form content still has the best chance of being watched in its entirety. This is worth considering for cable operators that do not offer on demand video delivery services. If your goal is to keep customers in front of the television longer, you may have greater success by offering more types of short-form content.

You may want to consider polling your customers directly and asking them whether they support long or short videos. They will appreciate the support — and some may even be less inclined to switch over to an over-the-top service!

One thing is certain, though: The days of short, 20-minute television programs are long gone. The over-the-top content revolution—with its longer, feature-length programs — has changed expectations for media consumers.