Mobile and tablet viewing climbs 400% in two years

The proportion of online video views done on smartphones and tablets has grown by more than 400% in the past two years, according to new research by Telstra subsidiary Ooyala. 

The Ooyala Q3 2014 Global Video Index Report claims that traffic from mobile and tablet devices accounted for 30% of all online video views during the quarter. This was up by 114% year-on-year and compares to 6% of all online video views in Q3 2012.

“At this rate, Ooyala predicts that mobile and tablet viewing will reach 50% of all online views by late 2015,” according to the research.

“Viewers increasingly are turning to the Internet for their daily content, driven in large part by increased access to premium and live video content, especially international sporting events and news of all sorts. The result is unprecedented growth rates in mobile and tablet video consumption.”

The report also noted “substantial growth” in long-form video consumption across devices and said that connected TVs – whether connected directly to the web or via game consoles and other devices – were central to long-form content consumption.

Tablet viewers spent 68% of their time watching video exceeding 10 minutes, while

connected TV viewers spent 80% of their time doing the same. Mobile phone users spent 48% of their total viewing time on long-form content, such as TV shows, movies, news and sporting events.

“Cloud-based TV has arrived. Broadcasters and content providers realise that, with the right approach, IP-delivered content can be more economical with higher return in terms of building and monetising audiences, compared to linear TV,” said Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher.