WHAT ARE THE LATEST TRENDS IN TERMS OF CONTENT CO-VIEWING?

A study conducted with Vevo, in partnership with MAGNA and IPG Media Lab, revealed significant differences in multicultural audiences’ video viewing behavior. The study indicated that all of the US audiences, including minorities such as Black/African American, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, and White communities shared the desire to of co-viewing on OTT devices compared with desktop, mobile, laptop, and linear TV. “The world’s largest all-premium music video provider, offering artists a global platform with enormous scale through its distribution partners,” Vevo said. “Vevo connects artists with their audience globally via music videos and original content, working directly with them to find unique ways to bring their music to life.”

The report analyzed audiences' consumption of content across multiple devices and their motivations around viewing habits. According to Vevo SVP of Research Bryon Schafer,  television received the highest amount of viewership, with an increase of over 20% since March of this year with 61 million viewers engaging with the screen. “No screen is seeing a greater surge in Vevo viewership than the television, which has seen an increase of over 20% since March of this year with 61 million viewers exclusively engaging on connected TV screens,"  Schafer said.

Longer viewing periods result from content that people find culturally relevant, in departments like sports and music. An average of 37% of highly culturally relevant content viewing sessions last for one hour or more. In terms of ad receptivity, in particular, viewing music content on OTT devices was key, with over 60% of each group responding that they would be receptive to ads. "With recent findings showing that 79% of Vevo’s connected TV content is being co-viewed, it’s important for us to understand the nuances of audience behaviors to pass on these insights with our clients and partners,” Schafer said.

On the contrary, Black/African American audiences watched binge-worthy content for longer periods of time. OTT is the leading platform to resonate with Black/African American viewers at their most engaged with 63% of audiences being receptive to ads on devices offering OTT content. Young Asian audiences and Black/African American viewers tend to watch content in shorter spurts of less than 30 minutes, likely driven by higher levels of mobile usage. Black/African American viewers were also the most likely audience to seek out music and sports content. 

While co-viewing on OTT devices spanned all surveyed groups, each demographic displayed difference between circumstances in which they consume content on certain devices. For example, older Asian audiences were more likely to seek out informative videos for task-based viewing sessions across all devices whilst their younger counterparts were more likely to watch binge-friendly for longer periods of time, exploring genres like music.