In 2021, the time spent consuming video on digital devices increases compared to 2020. Sensemakers, a digital marketing consultancy company, presents the results of the new research on the growth of online video consumption and on the evolution of consumer behavior at startup of the new season that we hope should be characterized by the return to normal after the health emergency. The study integrates several data sources: Auditel, Comscore’s Audience Analytics and an ad hoc research on heavy users of online video on both free and paid platforms carried out in the first two weeks of September.
In the first nine months of 2021, the time spent in the use of video content on digital devices (smartphones, PCs and tablets) grew by 21% compared to the same period of 2020 when consumption was accelerated by the pandemic emergency (increase of + 53% on 2019). Particularly significant is the increase recorded by the segment of young people 15-24 equal to + 44% and + 85% Y / Y compared to the same periods of 2020 and 2019.
Linear TV has shown a certain resilience, registering a decrease of -6% of the time spent on the total population over 2020 but a growth of 4% over 2019. These dynamics are more marked in the youth segment with a -14% compared to 2020 and + 2% compared to 2019. In September 2021, while linear television consumption continues to be largely prevalent (92%) in terms of time spent on the total population, on the young age groups (15-24 years) that spent on video players through digital devices it represents 35% of the total.
However, it is interesting to note how the distribution of time spent on digital devices in video use is strongly concentrated on the players that historically preside over the area of online video content such as YouTube (57% of the total) but also on relatively new players such as TikTok (22% of the total).
According to the most recent estimates of Auditel basic research in Italy, 10.9 million households own a connected TV (45% of the total) with a level of penetration that will increase significantly in the coming months (also due to government incentives for replacement of televisions to support the migration to the new DVB-T2 transmission standard) up to 78% at the end of 2022.
To investigate the increasingly central role that this medium plays in the media diet of Italians, a research was conducted on a representative sample of heavy users of online videos (79% of which are connected TV users) from which it emerged that CTV absorbs 56% (was 52% in previous search) of the time spent watching streaming video content.
The average daily heavy users, users of video content through CTV, are about 11 million and 32% of these only view content from pure streaming operators compared to 45% with mixed use (broadcasters and pure streaming operators) and 23% exclusive broadcasters.
In the 18-34 age segment, the ‘streaming only’ component rises to 46% while the mixed cluster falls to 36% and the ‘broadcasters only’ to 18%.
These clusters show homogeneous socio-demographic profiles and the main differentiation lever is represented by the different media diet.
Other data characterizing the heavy users of connected TV are the intense use of the second screen (89% even if for a 60% in terms of time optimization) and the fact that one in five finalizes the display of the same content on more than one device (percentage that rises to 35% in the 18-34 segment).
CHOICES AND VISION DRIVERS
Series and films continue to be the most viewed content on CTV but the consumption of so-called “unscripted” content (entertainment, information, music and sports) enjoyed in cross-device mode is also increasing, leading Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube to boast greater penetration among heavy users of CTV.
These operators are in fact capitalizing on the high levels of satisfaction that have already emerged in previous research and are assuming the function of real “gateway” to access certain categories of content.
The presence and continuous updating of ‘hero’ titles, the customization of the offer and the advice to the vision deriving from the high data management capacity (only 50% of those accessing the SVOD platforms have already decided what to watch against 66% of BVOD platforms) are the greatest strengths.
In the first 9 months of the year, the digital properties of the television broadcasters taken over by Auditel recorded an increase in the time spent of + 27%, particularly pronounced for live content (+ 42%) and Full Content. On the latter, which are integral contents such as full episodes of reality TV or fictional episodes, 79% of the time spent was concentrated.
This trend is partly attributable to a decline in production (-44% of published content) and above all in clipping activity which, if on the one hand can be interpreted as an optimization effort, on the other it represents a potential risk.
The “new” videos – that is, published in the nine months – generated 86% of overall views, confirming how the launch of new and updated content is essential to stimulate access to platforms as much if not more than the breadth of the library.
The focus on a small number of Full Content used essentially in catch up mode (only 1% of the content viewed in the first 9 months of 2021 exceeds 50,000 views) could not adequately differentiate the digital offer from the television one. The digital properties of broadcasters should be able to promote themselves as primary destination platforms for an evolved digital use that goes beyond television content and also includes original digital ones as well as the adaptation of formats to the different modes of online use (contexts, devices, durations ).
THE COMPETITIVE SCENARIO
The increase in offers and promotions has tended to leave the average number of subscriptions that are willing to subscribe unchanged compared to previous surveys (equal to 2.3) and slightly reduced the propensity to spend monthly for subscriptions from 27 to 25 euros. .
47% of subscribers continuously check the convenience of their subscription formula compared to 14% who do so only in the presence of problems. The price and promotion evaluation is the main driver of subscription choice (86%) followed by the content evaluation at 67% compared to – in order of importance – recently released films, foreign TV series, classic films, live sporting events and Italian TV series.
Among the barriers to exit prevail the presence of original content not available elsewhere and the inclusion in offer packages combined with other products and services that cannot be individually canceled.
“This latest research confirms the trends that emerged at the height of the pandemic; in particular the concentration on a limited number of players of the time spent in the use of videos on digital devices and the strong acceleration in the use of connected TVs ”comments Fabrizio Angelini, CEO of Sensemakers. “We are also witnessing the consolidation of streaming platforms with greater production and profiling capacity that are gradually establishing themselves as real access gateways to certain categories of content”