Mobile Devices Star in Prime Time at Home
His kids might commandeer the TV before bedtime, but online game designer John Comes still gets his prime-time fix. Just on a smaller screen.
Using his iPad, he can watch content from traditional TV and cable
channels such as ABC, TBS and HBO,
as well as newer options such as Hulu and Netflix. As for the family's 46-inch HDTV
at their Seattle area home, "I watch it when (they) are asleep for items I
can't watch on my iPad," says Comes, 37.
Internet video is changing the face of prime time. Online junkies are no
longer turning to cyberspace just to watch cute clips of kids, pets and movie
trailers on YouTube.
New research made available exclusively to USA TODAY shows how consumers
are using tablets, smartphones, game consoles — and, yes, Internet-connected
televisions — to devour live sports, network TV and cable fare. And most of
this is happening during the same prime-time hours that were dominated decades
ago by the major networks' over-the-air TV broadcasts.
Meet the new prime time. Same as the old prime time. What is changing is
that smaller screens on mobile devices are being used at home more than ever
expected. And, surprisingly, people are watching longer and longer videos on
their mobile devices, even the smallest screens.
This new cyber audience that has grown up with on-demand video and DVR
time-shifting scorns appointment TV in favor of a user-generated viewing
experience in which they are in control. "People are consuming their
content at the time they prefer, on the devices they prefer and increasingly in
the context they prefer," says Jay Fulcher, CEO of Ooyala, the video
management company for networks, broadcasters and content providers that shared
its user consumption data with USA TODAY.
The newfangled prime time extends beyond
weeknights. To the digital viewer, Saturday night is increasingly a prime
viewing time. Those watching aren't necessarily glued to the 50-inch television
in the living room, and if they are, they still often peek at the tablet on
their lap.
Video
viewing on tablets rises in the morning, tails off midday, then surges again in
the evening, according to first-quarter data compiled by Ooyala. On a typical
weekday, one-third of tablet video-watching occurs from 7 to 11 p.m., with only
about 17% of computer video viewing taking place at that time.
Viewers
on connected TVs watch nearly one-third more video from 4 to 11 p.m. on
Saturdays than on a typical weekday evening. Ooyala's takeaway: Programmers
should remember this when they plan content and monetization strategies.
Whenever and wherever you are
ESPN
is among the more than 1,000 global clients that rely on Ooyala to help power
their online video, and it takes the findings to heart. If you already
subscribe to ESPN through the likes of Time Warner,
Comcast, Verizon or Bright House
Networks, you can take advantage of the free Watch ESPN app on an
iPad to watch the network's sports programming on the go.
"The
way we look at this is about trying to serve sports fans whenever and wherever
they are," says Damon Phillips, who heads ESPN's digital/Web video content
strategies and product development. To Phillips, that means delivering
programming, often live sporting events, to the "best available
screen."
During
the workday, he says, that's likely the computer at your office. If you're
commuting, it could be an iPad or smartphone. But even at home, it might not be
the traditional TV, especially if you lose the battle over the remote control
to your spouse or your kids. "We call it subways and sofas," says
Ooyala's Fulcher.
The
trend of mobile devices serving up prime-time video at home is corroborated by
a survey from research consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates. More than
half (52%) of all smartphone video is viewed at home, according to its survey
of 1,010 adults who watch video weekly on smartphones, tablets or
Internet-connected TVs. The peak viewing happens from 8 to 11 p.m.
"Mobile
isn't just mobile anymore. It is happening in the house," says Doron
Wesly, head of market strategy for online advertising company Tremor Video,
which commissioned the Magid survey. "When they are on their couch or
watching something else, they are actually watching video as well on their
mobile device."
While
the in-home TV and computer remain the most popular devices for watching video
content, more than half (56%) of people with online access say they watch video
on a mobile phone at least once a month and 28% at least once a day.
Another
mobile-viewing shift: Smartphone viewers have historically gravitated toward
short-form content, but long-form video — full-length TV shows and movies — now
accounts for nearly 40% of smartphone video viewing every week, Magid found. In
a similar finding, Ooyala found that videos lasting longer than 10 minutes
accounted for half the total time folks spent watching online video. And video
viewing on tablets jumped 26% after Apple released the latest iPad in March. In
all, iPads account for 95% of all tablet viewing, Ooyala says.
Smart thinking
All
this runs counter to what we thought Internet-connected devices would be used
for: snacking on short videos while (mostly) away from the home TV. It also
makes the strategies of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube — to create original content
for their networks — look smart.
Netflix
led the drive to create original content with its resurrection of the
acclaimed-but-canceled Fox series Arrested
Development with new episodes scheduled for next year. It has already
released Lilyhammer starring
Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos)
and has three other original series in the works.
YouTube
is spending $100 million to create up to 100 channels with the likes of Jay-Z
and Madonna. Among the upcoming launches is the July 2 debut of K-Town, a reality series based in the
Koreatown section of Los Angeles.
The show, from actor Tyrese Gibson's HQ Productions, will play on the Loud
pop-culture channel masterminded by Ben Silverman,
former NBC Entertainment president and The
Office executive producer.
Across
all devices, more than half of YouTube viewing in the U.S. takes place during
traditional prime-time evening hours. "In prime-time hours, you're more
inclined to kick back and watch for a while," says Shiva Rajaraman, a
director of product management at YouTube.
Video
game entertainment network Machinima, which has one of the most-viewed channels
on YouTube, has been adding longer, episodic series, such as zombie action show
Bite Me and sci-fi series RCVR, to its steady stream of game
demos, reviews and tips videos. More and more viewers are watching content on
the iPad and tablets, says CEO Allen DeBevoise.
"The
old television model was: You go home and watch TV when they want you to,"
he says. "Our model is: You can be anywhere in the world, on any device
you want, and we'll let you watch the content whether it's on a mobile phone, a
tablet, a computer or a connected television."
The
lean-back experience of regular TV compared with computers or even smartphones
is why Alok Ranjan, the founder of ifood.tv, says viewers of the company's
connected TV channels — delivered via Samsung connected TVs, Google TV
and Yahoo television platforms or on Roku and Boxee set-top boxes — are likely
to watch three to four instructional cooking videos for 15 to 20 minutes. That
compares with a website or app viewer willing to devote about five to seven minutes
to watch one or two video recipes.
Video
snacking still persists on Hulu, and the best Saturday Night Live skits are favorites, says
Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content. But Hulu is also investing in
long-form programming with the half-hour series Spoilers, a show about movies starring filmmaker Kevin Smith.
Its debut is Monday.
A forum for new ideas
Net
video is a bit like the independent film scene a decade ago, Forssell says,
where "a creator has an idea and wanted to get the story told. In
traditional TV, that hasn't (usually) been the case. Here, there's a chance for
that (idea) to bloom."
As
mobile devices become more entrenched, he says, "I think you are seeing
the U.S. start to edge toward something like the Japanese situation where you
have kids watching a movie on a smartphone 10 feet from a 60-inch TV."
Ooyala's
Fulcher says, "We see traditional media businesses who didn't necessarily
want to embrace this (online video) trend now being motivated to make
investments and get their state of readiness around reaching consumers more
effectively." And there's untapped opportunity for online video publishers
to grow revenue by serving more digital ads, especially on the longer-form
content.
Gartner
media analyst Mike McGuire
agrees. "In terms of advertising, TV is still the king," he says.
"Advertising dollars are increasingly social and going online but are
fractions of (regular TV)."
More
programming and better mobile apps will lead to increases in video viewing.
Smartphone users plan to increase consumption by 36% in the next 12 months,
tablet users by 32%, Magid found. People with smartphones find themselves
"folding the smartphone into the media ecosystem in (their) living
room," says Magid senior analyst Andrew Hare.
A
smartphone and iPad help Dallas event coordinator Mike Duchock keep the peace
with his girlfriend. When she wants to watch Grey's Anatomy on his 50-inch plasma HDTV, he
uses his mobile devices. "Just the other night I watched my South Carolina
Gamecock baseball game on the Watch ESPN app while I half-watched Glee with (her)," he says.
"There have even been occasions where I had one game on my iPad, another
on my iPhone, and something else on TV."
Networks ultimately benefit by making content
available in multiple ways. That way viewers don't have to choose between
beloved content and their beloved. "Watching shows on my iPad,"
Duchock says, "means we still get to be together, vs. me going to another
room to another TV."
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