Ad Views and Viewing Frequency Show Gains: Adobe Benchmark Report
Viewers who watch reality TV shows online are seeing the most ads, says Adobe's U.S. Digital Video Benchmark Report for Q2 2015. They averaged 3.9 ads per video view in the second quarter. However, the ad load on dramas viewed online has seen the greatest increase: Viewers saw 2.7 ads per video start, for a year-over-year growth rate of 83 percent. Overall, the average number of ads per video start was up 30 percent year-over-year.
As always, the Adobe video benchmark is a curious snapshot of how we're watching online video now. Adobe found that viewing frequency of video on TV sites grew for desktops, phones, and tablets in Q2, although tablets showed the strongest growth. Desktop viewers still watched the most by a wide margin.
Most of the report looks at TV everywhere viewing, which saw a slight decline in Q2: The percent of pay TV subscribers who actively watched TVE content in Q2 was 12.7 percent, down from 13.2 percent in Q1.
Adobe found that TVE viewing for the Apple TV was up by 10 percent in Q2, with 12.8 percent of the total TVE streaming market. StreamingMedia.com has seen other similar data showing that the Apple TV is increasing in popularity, despite being overdue for a refresh. The most popular options for TVE viewing were iPads (22.3 percent), Windows computers (18.3 percent), and iPhones (18.2 percent).
Adobe's findings come from aggregated and anonymous data gathered through Adobe Analytics and Primetime. Download the full report for free (no registration required).
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