Streaming analytics firm Conviva reports that the global streaming market grew 14 percent in Q2 2022 as compared to the same period last year. Asia and Latin America drove the growth, vaulting 90 percent and 70 percent, respectively. The quarterly Conviva State of Streaming Report noted that North America, the most mature streaming market in the world, grew a modest 5 percent year over year. “As the global streaming industry matures, streaming success is getting more complicated,” Conviva reports, citing as factors device fragmentation and heightened quality expectations in an increasingly ad-supported streaming world.

Today’s streaming platforms are challenged to deliver a consistent and positive experience. Whether in Africa using an Android phone or in Texas on a smart TV, viewers expect a quality picture, quick content access and zero glitches. Streamers who meet those expectations “will quickly eclipse the competition,” Conviva president and CEO Keith Zubchevich said in the report summary.

“Conviva said streaming video quality showed improvement in some metrics but degraded in others” as “bitrates were up and there was less buffering, but it took longer for videos to start,” reports Broadcasting & Cable, quoting Zubchevich saying that “for long-form VOD content watched from the couch, that means improving bit rate,” while for live content, that means decreasing video start time (VST) and reduced buffering “to provide a similar experience to linear TV.”

For mobile devices, “where bitrate is less important, publishers may want to think about optimizing VST and buffering,” Zubchevich suggested. Conviva found bitrates rose globally in Q2 2022 “across all screen types and devices, but often at the expense of other quality metrics.”

Smart TVs saw the greatest bitrate increase overall, up 15.1 percent year over year. “However, to provide this more high-definition experience, smart TVs saw noticeable increases in video start failures, video start time and buffering,” Conviva said, citing PlayStation TV and Roku TV as the only big screen devices to both decrease video VST (down 10.7 percent and 12 percent, respectively) and increase bitrates (up 4.6 percent and 12.9 percent).

Roku TV continued to hold the top spot among big screen devices (big screens include connected TVs, smart TVs and gaming consoles), down less than one percent, to 30.5 percent of viewing time, compared to Q2 2021. Amazon Fire TV took second place, with a 16 percent share of big-screen viewing time, followed by Samsung TV (rebranding as Samsung TV Plus) at 13.7 percent.

Android TV (7.8 percent) and LG TV (7.3 percent) rounded out the top 5. Chromecast, Xbox TV and PlayStation all saw a decrease in share as compared to the previous year.

Conviva identifies the iPhone as “the primary device for mobile streaming, especially in North America,” but says that in Q2 2022 “the gap closed, with iPhone at 35.8 percent and Android capturing 33.2 percent. Android outpaced the iPhone by 10 percent in YoY growth in streaming viewing hours for Q2.

The 20-page Conviva report can be downloaded free.

Related:
Nielsen Reports Streaming Leads Cable TV for the First Time, ETCentric, 8/22/22