Growth in quantum video viewing stays slow


Details

Editor

| 23 December 2015




For nearly a decade analysts have predicted that video consumption would transition towards quantum viewing — consuming video from both traditional and OTT — but growth has been slow, says researcher TDG.



RTVN 23 Dec QUantum viewingIn its first publicly-released consumer segmentation, Cracking the Code: Segmenting Viewers in the Age of Quantum Video, TDG segments video viewing into six key categories. These include young video minimalists, who watch significantly less video, almost all of which is streaming; senior video minimalists, who also watch little video, almost all of which is from traditional linear sources; TV traditionalists, who, as the name suggests, rely primarily on live broadcast TV with almost no use of DVRs or streaming; pay-TV time shifters, who universally subscribe to traditional pay-TV services and rely heavily on digital video recorders; OTT TV, who universally subscribe to online streaming services and watch significantly less broadcast content; and the aforementioned quantum viewers.

“In 2006, TDG first introduced the idea of quantum media consumption," explained Michael Greeson, co-founder and director of research of TDG. "That theory accurately described how the entire video value chain - from content production to aggregation, from distribution to consumption - would evolve due to implementation of IP technologies ... We are merely on the path to pervasive quantum consumption, as only 15% of adult broadband users can be described as such."

Yet the demographic growing only incrementally, Cracking the Code: Segmenting Viewers in the Age of Quantum Video also found that Quantum viewers displayed ‘rather unique’ demographic and techno-graphic characteristics.

Indeed TDG stressed that quantum viewers would be increasingly important especially given that they were already heavy users of all video services — live broadcasts or on-demand, legacy pay-TV or streaming services — and place great value in having access to all their video services on all their devices.