People who stream TV content now prefer to watch it on TV sets instead of personal computers, according to a new report from Conviva.
The report, The Secret Life of Streamers Part II, found that during primetime, between 9 and 10 p.m., connected TV sets accounted for 48% of the episodic video plays in 2017, up from 35% during the 2016 survey.
The share for personal computers has plunged to 19% in 2017 from 39% in 2016.
"Conviva has a unique census-level data set capturing detailed viewing habits of billions of streaming video applications and devices across the globe,” said digital media analyst Colin Dixon of nScreen Media, researcher and author of the report. “Our most recent analysis shows connected TV dominating all devices 24/7, with plays increasing 75%, highlighting the rise of this platform at the expense of other screens. The transition from traditional television to streaming television has become more prominent, and viewers are binge-watching multiple shows via connected TV during primetime.”
The Secret Life of Streamers Part II follows a similar study done in 2016. That report noted a lunchtime bump in PC usage during lunchtime.
“The data strongly suggested people were catching up with their favorite shows on their PC while they ate their lunch,” the new report said. “The lunchtime bump is still there. Plays at noon are 20% higher than for the average hour. However, this is lower than last year, where the lunchtime peak was 29% higher.
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Some of the lunchtime viewings appear to have transferred to the smartphone, the report added. Last year, episodic plays from a smartphone in the noon hour were only 8% above average. This year the difference has increased to 19%.
Conviva also found that the average viewing session on connected TVs, 77 minutes, is twice the amount of time viewers spend watching streaming video on personal computers and mobile devices.
Conviva monitors over 14 billion streaming video hours per year from over three billion video viewing applications and devices around the globe. The data used in The Secret Life of Streamers Part II came from nearly two billion streaming sessions in North America from April 2016 to April 2017.
