Rapid rising of streaming content fuels fiercer competition

Although global streaming continued to grow in 2022, the sheer number of content options meant that individual services on average captured a smaller share of users’ daily watching time.

According to the 2022 Video Streaming Industry report by NPAW, providers around the global saw a year-on-year increase in the total number of video plays for a second consecutive year. This, however, was offset by daily consumption per user and service dropping for both video-on-demand (VoD) and linear TV, at -12% and -23% respectively.

While daily linear TV playtime per user and service dipped, global linear TV quality improved. This, said NPAW, demonstrated how highly broadcasters and operators continue to prioritise linear TV QoE … and this uptrend is likely to continue. More content is also being consumed on big screens, with lesser viewers choosing to consume content on small-screen devices. As for what content viewers favour, sports proved to be the big winner, with providers that had streaming rights to the Qatar World Cup enjoying an increase of 80% in the total number of plays and 83% higher total playtime when compared with the previous six months.

Ferran G. Vilaró, CEO & Co-Founder of NPAW, said, “With competition growing fiercer by the minute, it’s business-critical for streaming services to provide the right content and a superior streaming experience if they want to attract and retain users and maintain growth.

“To do so, they need to leverage their platforms’ data to the fullest extent, implementing advanced analytics solutions that combine technical performance monitoring and user journey insights.”

Apple is reportedly considering bidding for the streaming rights of a range of English football games, including the globally popular English Premier League (EPL).

If Apple goes ahead with the bid, it will be the next significant acquisition to the sports content stable for the Apple TV+ streaming service, after deals were secured to stream both Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer (MLS), the latter for US$14.99 monthly or US$99 per season. All matches from the MLS, the professional league in the US and Canada, will be streamed on Apple TV+ for the next decade.

Apple’s foray into live sports streaming comes as traditional pay-TV continues to lose its position as the destination for sports viewing. According to Grabyo, a browser-based live video production suite that works with sports and social media entities to distribute over-the-top (OTT) and digital content, 79% of global sports fans would choose online streaming to watch their favourite sporting events, if given a choice.

Since the commencement of the 2019/20 EPL season, Amazon Prime Video has been live streaming selected matches to global audiences, and Amazon is also reportedly working on a standalone app for watching sports content.

Besides the EPL, Amazon also owns the rights to stream games from the National Football League (NFL), the professional American football league.

Driven by high penetration in both fixed and mobile broadband, as well as low subscription prices, more viewers in Asia are consuming content from subscription video-ondemand (SVoD) services.

Of the 698 million SVoD subscriptions that will be recorded in the region by 2026, 354 million subscriptions will come from China, with India providing 157 million subscribers, predicts Digital TV Research. Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, told APB+, “In China, SVoD platforms can screen more liberal content than their state-owned linear channel counterparts, although the government is beginning to clamp down on this.”

“SVoD also allows content owners to monetise their vast libraries online, and this is especially true in India. The rise in SVoD subscriptions, however, may not necessarily have a detrimental effect on traditional linear TV services in the region. Digital TV Research does not foresee a high degree of cord-cutting in Asia, except in China, where the government is pushing for IPTV and fibre broadband over cable TV.”

Cord-nevers, on the other hand, will continue to bypass all alternatives and go straight to over-thetop (OTT) or SVoD services.

Murray added, “To ensure success, each platform needs to provide something that its competitors do not offer, such as live sports, exclusive rights to a reality show, or original programming. These platforms must also refresh their content regularly.”

With short-form content platforms continuing to gain popularity among young consumers, it would appear that traditional TV is beginning to lose its relevance among younger viewers. Or, is it?

While Gen Z viewers aged between 13-17 are spending a slightly greater proportion of their viewing time with non-TV content, those aged between 18-24 are more likely to devote a greater proportion of their viewing time to professional TV content, according to the FOCUS Generation Next 2002 report from Horowitz Research.

This, the research firm said, can be partially explained by the fact that older Gen Z viewers are accessing content through multiple platforms, including subscription streaming services, free streaming services, as well as traditional cable and satellite services. These viewers are able to make independent decisions about the services they want to subscribe to, and have access to a wider range of streaming options to enjoy. However, Horowitz Research believes that as younger viewers age, they will begin to consume more TV content.