New Conviva Data Shows Significant Drop in Ad Demand Despite Quality Improvements; Streaming Growth Normalizing After Pandemic Peak

Conviva’s Q2 2020 State of Streaming Report Highlights Impact of COVID-19, YouTube’s Move to the TV Screen and the Rise of Smart TVs

Conviva, the leader in global streaming media intelligence, released its quarterly State of Streaming report for Q2 2020, showing streaming video advertising saw a sharp decline in the past quarter with ad attempts in Q2 down 28% globally and 22% in the U.S. as compared to Q1 2020. The report also details the impact of COVID-19 with expanded regional benchmarks illustrating that while streaming continues to grow overall, it slowed in May and June as compared to its height in April when shelter-in-place orders drove streaming viewing up 81% year over year.

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Ad Demand Drops while Quality Improves

While advertising demand dropped in Q2, due in part to a lack of sports, streaming ads saw significant improvements in overall quality. Viewers spent 38% less time waiting for an ad to start in Q2 as compared to Q1 and as a result, pre-ad viewer-initiated exits dropped 22%. Ad picture quality also improved, with bitrate up 53%.

Despite quality improvements, nearly 45% of ads represented missed opportunities. The most common advertising issue continues to be the lack of demand as publishers try to fill ad slots, but no relevant ad is available.

“Shelter-in-place mandates skyrocketed streaming viewership in April, led by Europe which saw a 174% increase year over year,” said Bill Demas, CEO, Conviva. “Unfortunately advertising moved in the opposite direction with global demand significantly reduced due to COVID-19. We expect advertising to bounce back in the coming quarters as the industry and viewers acclimate to a ‘new normal’ including streaming being part of the everyday routine.”

Streaming Device Growth: TV Sees Triple Digit Increase

Conviva uncovered significant increases in viewing as people tuned in natively within their smart TVs. Global share of smart TV viewing more than doubled as viewing time increased 239% year over year. Also bolstering television viewing were connected TV devices (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, etc.) which saw a 61% increase and game consoles a 55% increase in time spent streaming year over year.

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Global device share in Q2 2020 included:

• Smart TVs: Samsung commanded half of all viewing time via smart TV, followed by LG TVs with 23%, Vizio TVs with 11%, Android TVs with 8% and Amazon Fire TVs with 7%.
• Connected TV Devices: Roku remained the leader among connected TV devices, capturing half of the total viewing time for the category. Amazon Fire TV captured 29%, Apple TV 8.7%, Chromecast 7.3%, Android TV 3.6% and Humax 1.3%.
• Gaming Consoles: PlayStation bested Xbox in streaming viewership at slightly over 50% of viewing time versus Xbox’s 47%.

Connected TV devices had the largest share of viewing time in both North America (56%) and Europe (32%). In South America smart TVs (40%) has the largest share of viewing time, while in Asia (49%) and Africa (43%) desktops remain the primary streaming device.

Viewers Embrace YouTube on Bigger Screens

YouTube is primarily watched on mobile devices which captured 59% share of time spent in Q2 2020. However, the trend towards TVs also impacted YouTube as viewing on connected TVs and consoles accounted for a 25% share of YouTube viewing in Q2 2020, a 69% increase from 16% share the prior Q2.

Socializing Sports with No Sports

On social media, North American professional sports bottomed out in June, with social engagements by sports teams down more than 71% from their 2020 low in January while European professional sports teams increased their social engagements by 64% in June as compared to their 2020 low in April. A notable bright spot for North American leagues on social was the NFL Draft in late April, as the NFL teams surpassed NBA teams in total engagements for the only time during the year.

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