Research: Audiences watch more videos and finish them more often during home time

As people are advised to stay at home amid the pandemic, they normally entertain themselves with common recreational activities such as watching videos. Adobe has released its results of video content consumption trends during the pandemic, with respondents dialing back video consumption in recent months.

The research analysed over 24 billion video starts and over 6.6 billion hours of video content viewed online across OTT, desktop and mobile phone platforms in the US, highlighting five trends amid the pandemic. 

According to the results, consumers started to watch less videos after months of binge-watching video content. Publishers were seeing the effects of shelter-in-place orders starting in March, with surges for both video starts and time spent watching that month. However, in June, consumers began to dial back consumption as states in the US began to re-open and the COVID-19 curve began to flatten.

From April onwards, consumers began to complete videos more often. Video completion rates began a steady decline in early 2019, as consumers were flush with a growing array of services and original content to consume, and this trend continued in early 2020 as well. However, the growth in video completions that began in April has maintained through July, which saw a significant growth of 11% year-on-year.

“Completion rates are a really powerful indicator for evaluating advertising and content development strategies, as they have a significant impact on the performance of ads attached to video content and showcase the video’s ability to hold the viewer’s attention,” said Vivek Pandya, Adobe’s senior digital insights manager. 

Before COVID-19, mobile video consumption was seeing steady growth, as mobile devices became more advanced and video content was aplenty. Recently, OTT video platforms, such as Hulu, Netflix and Disney, have been the primary growth driver of video consumption.

When analysing video time spent, the data offers  a similar picture: OTT is the primary growth driver, with a significant peak in April, while time spent on mobile has been in decline for the last three months (May-July).

When it comes to the types of video consumed, more than half (54%) said that they had watched more news now compared to just three months ago, followed by movies, horror, comedy and kids/family categories. Additionally, 59% of respondents said they enjoyed having new release movies available on-demand.

Finally, respondents have spent a lot of their home time with video turned on, with 40% feeling overwhelmed with the amount of choices they have in selecting programmes. The study has also found that 40% felt there were too many apps and services to stream video, and that it was difficult to manage (29% did not agree, 31% were neutral).

At the same time, 60% of respondents had one-to-three services, while 35% had between four and seven. Around 6% had more than eight.

Pandya said, "If there’s one lesson overall that COVID-19 has taught us about content, it’s that digital video is playing a more permanent role in the everyday lives of consumers today and that’s not going to change - not even post-pandemic.”

“That doesn’t mean that all marketers need to go out and just start creating a whole slew of video content. On the contrary, we are encouraging companies to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to video content, with a focus on what consumers want, need and like to consume.”

Related articles

Adobe launches mobile app for Analytics

GroupM: Online TV and video consumption surges amid COVID-19 in Hong Kong