Smart TVs slow growth for CTV as advertisers re-emerge in Q3
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| 16 December 2020
Continuing the trend of multiple quarters of strong streaming growth, streaming media intelligence provider Conviva’s Q3 2020 State of Streaming Report has revealed a 57% year-over-year increase in overall viewing time while uncovering new streaming trends.
Conviva State of Streaming Q320 16Dec2020
The report also including the long-awaited return of advertisers and the increasing battle between smart TVs and connected TV devices such as Roku.
Data for the research was primarily collected from Conviva’s proprietary sensor technology currently embedded in three billion streaming video applications, measuring in excess of 500 million unique viewers watching 150 billion streams per year with 1.5 trillion real-time transactions per day across more than 180 countries.

Unlike in Q2 2020 when ad demand dropped dramatically due to the pandemic and lack of live sports, the Q3 report revealed the global re-emergence of ad demand, with a 22% yearly increase in impressions owing to a 14% increase in ad attempts and a 22% decrease in failed ad attempts. Ad quality also improved in Q3, with time spent waiting for ads to buffer down 28%, and an 11% increase in picture quality.

The study also showed that connected TV devices - such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Chromecast boxes - continued to dominate streaming viewership in Q3 with 50% share of global viewing time. Roku still remained the market leader among connected TV devices, capturing nearly half of the total connected TV viewing time in the quarter at 47.7% share. Amazon Fire TV finished a distant second with 27.6%.

However, for the first time, connected TV devices did not keep pace with overall streaming growth (55% vs 57%), demonstrating an uncharacteristic falter in the category. Conviva attributed the slower CTV growth to more viewers streaming within their TV’s native app rather than via an external device. Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Vizio were found to have grown significantly faster than all other devices in Q3, up 200% in viewing time. With this skyrocketing growth, smart TVs nearly doubled share over the past year, up to 14.8% from 7.7% the previous Q3.

“Streaming has exploded in the past year as illustrated by content like the NFL which saw 41% growth on streaming and remained relatively flat on linear TV,” said Conviva CEO Bill Demas commenting on Conviva’s State of Streaming report. “As a result, we are seeing more investment in streaming services, advertisers shifting to streaming platforms and consumers adopting streaming-enabled devices and TVs at a rapid pace.”

On social media, North American sports leagues reached a new height in September with total engagements up 252% across the region’s sports leagues including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and MLS as compared to their low in June. The two largest players, the NBA and the NFL, tell two stories, with NFL teams able to exceed total engagement levels from January, while NBA teams have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels of engagement.

Looking at the NFL in particular, the survey found that the number of NFL fans watching games via streaming increased 41% year over year. Daytime games saw the largest increase in Q3, up 63%, with nearly 70% of viewing taking place on a big screen. By contrast, primetime games captured a more modest 32% increase in viewing time year over year in Q3 2020. TVs continue to dominate NFL viewing, with TV commanding 67% of all NFL viewing while mobile captured 13% and PC just 6% of NFL viewing time in Q3 2020.