Global consumers will spend an average of 67 minutes a day watching online video this year, according to Zenith’s Online Video Forecasts 2018.
This will be up from the 56 minutes last year, and by 2020 the average person will be spending 84 minutes a day watching videos online.
In 2020, China will have the keenest viewers, with the average person spending 105 minutes a day watching online video, followed by Russia (102 minutes) and the UK (101 minutes).
This year’s Online Video Markets edition covers 59 key markets. By online video, it refers to all video content viewed over an internet connection, including broadcaster-owned platforms such as Hulu, OTT subscription services like Netflix, video-sharing sites, e.g. YouTube, and videos viewed on social media.
Global online video consumption grew by 11 minutes a day in 2017, and Zenith expects it to grow by an average of 9 minutes a day each year to 2020. It accounts for almost all the growth in total internet use, and is growing faster than media consumption overall, so it is taking consumption time from traditional media. Although some of this extra viewing is going to non-commercial platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, plenty of it is going to commercial platforms, so the supply of commercial audiences is rising rapidly.
Zenith estimates that online video ad spend grew 20% in 2017, to reach $27 billion. Growth peaked at 36% in 2014 and has fallen steadily since then, but still remains very high. Zenith forecasts 19% growth in 2018, and an average of 17% annual growth to 2020, when online video ad spend will reach $43 billion. Video’s share of online display advertising is rising steadily: it accounted for 27% of display ad spend in 2017, and Zenith expects it to account for 30% in 2020.
The supply of online video audiences has been growing ahead of demand in recent years: by 91% between 2015 and 2017, compared to 52%. The cost of online video advertising has therefore come down substantially. As the growth of video consumption grows Zenith expects prices to stabilise, with mild increases from 2019 onwards.
Zenith notes that online video advertising is still only a fraction of the size of TV advertising, but because TV is stuck at 0% to 2% annual growth, this fraction is rising rapidly. The online video ad market was 10% of the size of the TV ad market in 2015, and 14% in 2017. By 2020 Zenith expects the figure to be 23%.
Commenting in the findings of the report, Jonathan Barnard, Zenith’s head of forecasting and director of global intelligence, said: “Online video is driving growth in global media consumption, as smartphones with high- speed data connections make high-quality video available to people on the move, and smart TV sets give viewers unparalleled choice in the living room.
“The rapid rise in video viewing makes online video the world fastest-growing advertising format, creating new strategic and creative opportunities. Brands that do not currently have a strategy for online video need to think about getting one.”
