As global streaming continues to increase - up 21% in the third quarter of 2021 over the same period last year -, the segment is also growing in Asia, where it increased 46% overall, Conviva said in its latest report. The territory was led by western Asia, which increased a massive 200%, and southeastern Asia, which grew by an impressive 164%. Meanwhile, southern Asia increased 71% and even though eastern and central Asia increased the least of all regions, they still notably expanded by 34% and 22%, respectively.
In addition to the overall increase in content consumption, streaming advertising also made gains after a rocky 2020. Between just this quarter and the last, ad attempts and ad impressions were up over 30%, a good sign for publishers and advertisers alike. Just 15% of ads in Q3 2021 were not delivered as intended, for an impressive 23% decrease in missed ad opportunities quarter over quarter.
At the same time, Asia is also showing quality gains. Year over year, buffering, bitrate, start failure, and minutes per play (for the most part) made decent gains in every region. Buffering – when the video pauses during playback so it can reload – improved across the board. While Asia recorded the worst buffering at 0.98%, this is the first quarter that all six regions measured tallied buffering under 1%, which Conviva highlights as a significant accomplishment.
Overall, Asia enjoyed decent quality gains across all devices, except for video start time, which increased 35% over this period last year, and bitrate, which stayed the same. Buffering, however, was down 34%, video start failures were down by 44%, and minutes per play were up 4%.
Regarding devices, Asia consistently consumes streaming video on smaller screens, so it is no surprise that desktop and mobile took top spots in nearly every region when it came to viewing time by device. Overall, big screen viewing, combining connected TV, smart TV, and gaming consoles, was low in Asia compared to the rest of the world, at just 14% share of viewing time. Desktop won the most share with 49%, followed by mobile phones at 33%. Tablets brought up the rear at just 4%.
“Quality improvements in advertising, by device, and per region point to better experiences for consumers overall, which might be linked to the growth in streaming generally. Or perhaps the increasing interest in streaming by consumers is forcing streaming platforms to do better. Either way, it’s a win-win for content providers and consumers,” the report concluded.
Related News
