TV, video viewing shifts rapidly towards mobility

Average viewing times on mobile devices has grown by more than 200 hours a year since 2012, driving up overall TV and video viewing by an additional 1.5 hours a week, according to the latest Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media Report.

The surge in mobile viewing is offset with a decline in fixed screen viewing of 2.5 hours a week, however the appetite for TV and video is not waning.

Weekly share of time spent watching TV and video on mobile devices has grown by 85% (2010-2016). On fixed screens it has gone down by 14% over the same period.

Also, 40% of consumers globally are “very interested” in a mobile data plan that includes unrestricted video streaming.

In the US, 20% of mobile viewing is paid-for content using services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.

A major issue is low consumer satisfaction when trying to find something to watch, 44% of US consumers say they can’t find anything to watch on linear TV on a daily basis, an increase of 22% compared with last year (36%).

In contrast, US consumers spend 45% more time choosing what to watch on VOD services than linear TV.

Paradoxically, 63% of consumers claim that they are very satisfied with content discovery when it comes to their VOD service, while only 51% say the same for linear TV.

The findings suggest that although the VOD discovery process is more time consuming than with linear broadcast TV, consumers rate it as less frustrating, as it implicitly promises the opportunity to find something they want to watch, when they want to watch it.