The suitability of tablets for longer form viewing is propelling video consumption on mobile devices and dragging eyeballs from PCs as well as traditional TVs. The main casualty, though, appears to be secondary TVs, as Wireless Watch’s sister service, Faultline, points out in its new report, ‘Requiem for the Television’.
The report contains in-depth analysis and insight into the trends that will shape TV manufacturing over the next five years. (For more information, please contact [email protected]). One of the key findings is to confirm the status of the tablet as the number one mobile device for long form viewing.
This was already heavily indicated in data for the second quarter of 2013, recently published by Ooyala, an over-the-top video analytics and monetization specialist which also tracks online video consumption. This highlighted a movement of secondary viewing away from the relatively large screens of PCs and secondary TVs to the smaller tablets and even to some extent smartphones.
This is not because people have suddenly reversed their predilection for big screens, but reflects a willingness to trade off screen size for portability. Or simply it is that people are now buying tablets and finding that they give an experience plenty good enough to enjoy watching longer form content on the move, whether pre-recorded or streamed.
Ooyala broke down the total time people spent watching long form online video in Q2 2013 between the four types of devices it tracks worldwide, desktops, smartphones, tablets and internet-connected TVs. The results indicate that the tablet is now the number one connected device for viewing content lasting longer than an hour, accounting for almost 30% of the time, closely followed not surprisingly by smart TVs.
Again not surprisingly the balance between longer and shorter form viewing was closer for smartphones than for tablets or connected TVs, reflecting the former’s greater suitability for snacking. The PC was also closely split between shorter and longer form viewing, reflecting a tendency for snacking while working or engaged on other tasks. People are more likely to sit down in front of a tablet and watch for longer, wherever they are.
Along similar lines, the UK’s BBC has reported that mobiles and tablets together are on the verge of overtaking the PC in overall program requests. This is significant in that the iPlayer has been a great bastion of the PC, which was still way ahead of mobiles for usage during the 2012 London Olympics for example. But in October, mobile device requests were almost in line with the PC, at 37% against 39%.