Have TV Everywhere Users Returned to the Couch?

Multichannel pay TV subscriptions have plenty of benefits over relying solely on an over-the-top (OTT) device, and according to Adobe Digital Index research released in March 2015, TV Everywhere adoption continued to rise last year. TV Everywhere penetration among pay TV subscribers in the US in Q4 2014 was nearly double that in the same quarter the year prior, at 12.5%, vs. 6.5% in Q4 2013. Adobe estimated this would reach 18% by the end of 2015.

In 2014 as a whole, TV Everywhere authenticated video views totaled 2.10 billion—up 266% year over year—and more than 13 million users logged on at least quarterly, on average.

Adobe noted that TV Everywhere users had come “full circle” in terms of devices used to consume content. While the services were once considered ideal for mobile, respondents had shifted access away from iOS options and toward gaming consoles and OTT devices in particular. Though iOS maintained the largest share of TV Everywhere authentications between Q4 2013 and Q4 2014, its portion fell 21.1%.

Meanwhile, OTT devices and consoles expanded share of authentications by 45.5% year over year, pushing the category out of last place and past Android. Adobe estimated game consoles and OTT would account for 20% of activations next year and suggested programmers had to create superb on-screen apps for key TV Everywhere devices such as Roku, Apple TV and smart TVs.

Gaming console and OTT TV Everywhere users increased time spent with the devices, too. The average number of monthly videos viewed per visitor in Q4 2014 was 7.6, up from 6.2 in Q4 2013. The access type tied iOS for first place, followed by Android (7.0) and browsers (4.6)—though the fact that all categories saw average authentications increase year over year suggests TV Everywhere users are turning to the services more frequently for binge-viewing, according to Adobe.

Data from FreeWheel indicates that the TV Everywhere audience is a prime target for video advertisers. In Q4 2014, authenticated viewing—which the source defined as viewing that occurs after viewers enter their MVPD subscription credentials—accounted for over half (56%) of long-form and live video ad monetization in the US, up 591% year over year in share.

Courtesy of eMarketer