SILICON VALLEY, Calif.—The beginning of 2019 has shown no signs of the streaming revolution slowing down, as Conviva’s “State of the Streaming TV Industry” report covering the first quarter of 2019 details. However, the TV still holds a strong grip as the chief method for watching the latest content.
In Conviva’s report it was revealed that streaming viewership grew 72% year-over-year, and the rate of consumption growth increased by 49%. While this growth of streaming includes mobile devices (73% growth) and PCs (55% growth), it is connected TVs that is having the biggest impact.
Connected TVs viewership growth came in at 74%, while in terms of hours spent viewing streaming content, TVs were the top choice at 56%. Among available connected TV devices, Roku maintained its lead share of the market at 42.4%, but there was strong growth with Amazon Fire TV, which grew from 11.4% in Q1 2018 to an 18.6% share in the new report.
As far as how people are watching, virtual MVPDs—DirecTV Now, Hulu, Playstation Vue and Sling—had a 108% growth in viewership year-over-year; other services came in at 60% growth in the U.S.
Sports also remain a key component for viewership numbers, as the College Football National Championship game held the highest peak concurrent viewership of the quarter, 37.6% higher than the Q1 2018 peak event. Super Bowl LIII and March Madness also saw streaming boosts of 157% and 67%, respectively.
Not all of the findings were positive. Up to 47% of streaming TV ads are failing according to Conviva, carrying a high cost and impact on engagement.
“There’s no surprise that the streaming TV market is expanding significantly,” said Bill Demas, CEO of Conviva. “Maintaining a high-quality viewer experience tightly across content and advertising is increasingly important as streaming providers look to increase viewer engagement and monetization. The battle for streaming market share is a fast-growing pie and service must deliver an experience comparable to linear TV to fulfill viewer expectations.”
The findings of the report were based on an analysis of a trillion real-time transactions per day via three billion applications streaming on devices in 180 countries.
To access the full report, visit conviva.com.
