Global Live Streaming Up 54% YoY in Q3; NFL Notches 83% Climb in Viewing Hours: Conviva Real-time data report shows sports are a major player; Virtual MVPDs, Connected TV devices are on the rise By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Wednesday, October 31, 2018 - 10:47 am
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It should be of little surprise that, according to a study by streaming-TV-measurement and -intelligence platform Conviva, streaming-video consumption continued to skyrocket in Q3 2018. In State of the Streaming TV Industry Report for Q3 2018 (which was released on Wednesday), the company reported a 52% increase in plays and a 63% climb in total viewing hours year over year.
Naturally, sports was a major driver of the spike. Conviva noted that Q3 was certainly bolstered by matches of the FIFA World Cup in July, the first month of the quarter. The NFL also is enjoying global streaming growth: it logged an 83% jump in viewing hours from last year and accounted for an impressive 3% of total streaming plays and viewing hours in the U.S. That's counting all video content on the web.
Conviva's data reflects an industry trend that has played out as Connected TVs become consumers' streaming device of choice. Connected TV devices (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, even gaming platforms) are up 145% year over year, and users are streaming on their PCs much less: that number is down 18%.
Mobile is holding strong, increasing 57%; many forecasters expect mobile video to be one of the big beneficiaries when commercial 5G becomes mainstream in the next couple of years.
Streaming-TV consumption shows no signs of slowing down, and publishers have stepped up to the plate, delivering better quality and reliability that viewers have come to expect, Conviva CEO Bill Demas said in an official release. The demand for quality is pushing Connected TVs to the top in terms of device share, commanding more than 50% of total viewing hours at the expense of PCs, which have lost 7%, while mobile remains relatively flat.
The rise of Virtual MVPDs in the U.S. also cannot be understated. 2018 has been a big year for the newest players in the industry: fuboTV, YouTube TV, Flosports, and others. vMVPDs saw a notable 292% more plays and 212% more viewing hours year over year. According to Conviva, vMVPD growth is drawing significant share away from publisher apps by offering bundled content with better-quality delivery, resulting in higher engagement.
From Conviva:
Data for this report is collected using Conviva's proprietary sensor technology, which is embedded directly within 3 billion streaming-video applications. Conviva currently measures 1 trillion data events per day for many of the world's top streaming-TV providers across 180 countries and four continents. In this report, the Q3 2018 data as compared with Q3 2017 was normalized based on Conviva's consistent customer base.
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Global Live Streaming Up 54% YoY in Q3; NFL Notches 83% Climb in Viewing Hours: Conviva Real-time data report shows sports are a major player; Virtual MVPDs, Connected TV devices are on the rise By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
