Ooyala reveals video survey and Microsoft partnership

Ooyala has released its Q4 2013 Global Video Index survey at the same time as announcing a partnership with Microsoft Corp. on IP video services.

The study reveals record growth of mobile and tablet online viewing. Increasing 719% since Q4 2011, the year-over-year growth validates the opportunity for broadcasters to build and monetise cross-device experiences, and for advertisers to reach more audiences as mobile and tablet viewers multiply. At its current pace, Ooyala projects mobile and tablet viewership will account for half of all online videos by 2016.

A recent Ooyala survey showed 99% of respondents from hundreds of broadcasters and publishers see mobile as important or critical to their online experience. This has been evidenced around the globe by recent TV-everywhere offerings from Univision and Foxtel's new movie streaming service, Presto.

As video-capable mobile devices proliferate and mainstream broadcasters launch new multiscreen deployments, mobile online viewing continues to increase at rapid rates. The time consumers spent watching video on mobile and tablets exceeded one fourth of all online viewing this quarter alone. More than half of mobile viewers' time was spent watching video longer than 30 minutes in Q4, compared to 35% for tablet users. Additionally mobile video share of plays increased by 21% from Q3 to Q4 2013.

Ooyala's Q4 Index also found that sports broadcasters are among the most progressive in pushing advanced technology to their audiences, and sports fans are the hungriest consumers of video across all screens. On average, mobile viewers watched live sports three times longer in one sitting than when watching video-on-demand (VOD), and tablet viewers watched live sports more than twice as long in one sitting than all other live video as a whole.

In terms of device behaviour, connected TV users spent 87% of their total sports viewing time watching videos longer than 10 minutes compared to 62% on mobile. However, mobile users often stay connected for longer periods of time to watch recaps and game highlights.

Sports properties are the leading innovators in digital distribution, especially when it comes to live and mobile viewing, said Jay Fulcher, chief executive officer of Ooyala. Our data continues to show major shifts in the way people consume TV and video, pointing to a global opportunity for broadcasters particularly when sports are involved to engage and increase their audience and maximise content rights monetisation.

In other news, Ooyala has begun a strategic relationship with Microsoft Corp. to help develop, promote and accelerate the deployment of next-generation IP video services using Microsoft Azure Media Services (Media Services) in conjunction with Ooyala's SaaS-based video distribution, analytics and monetisation technology. Ooyala also formed a global sales and marketing alliance with Microsoft, which is designed to drive standardisation of new personalised TV services for broadcasters and operators around the world.

Through this partnership, Ooyala becomes a preferred online video provider for Microsoft and Microsoft becomes Ooyala's preferred public cloud provider. With the massive scale of their combined technologies, customers of any size can build and deploy hybrid systems integrated with existing video infrastructures, as well as end-to-end digital video workflows using the full complement of Microsoft and Ooyala tools and services.

Through our partnership with Ooyala, we can offer fully integrated comprehensive managed TV and video services to our customers, and we'll work together to aggressively drive adoption among broadcasters and operators everywhere, said Bob Kelly, corporate vice president, Microsoft Azure.

Through this alliance, Microsoft and Ooyala are in a position to seize a major opportunity together, to drive standardisation of the next generation of personalised, IP-delivered video offerings, based on our combined solutions, said Sean Knapp, executive vice president and chief product officer of Ooyala. With the robust global footprint of our respective platforms, and Microsoft's massive global workforce for sales, marketing and support, we're now in a prime position to meet the booming demand for world-class, highly scalable multiscreen TV.

www.ooyala.com

This story also appears on IBC's Content Everywhere.

LINK:	http://www.tvbeurope.com/ooyala-reveals-video-survey-microsoft-partner...
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