Half of Spanish internet users now subscriber to online video

Half of Spanish internet-connected homes are now consuming subscription online video services, according to data released by regulator the CNMC.

Percentage of Spanish homes subscribing to online pay video services in June

According to the data, half of homes were consuming pay services at the half-year point, up 33% in one year.

The number of homes paying for online video rose to 49.1% at the end of June, up from 37.1% at the end of June 2019. The shift represented a significant acceleration in use year-on-year, with the June 2018 figure standing at 33.7%.

The CNMC added the caveat that this data, taken from its household panel, referred to a period when online video use had increased due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest data from the research panel also saw use of TVs to access the internet rise from16.5% to 22.5%. Mobile phones remain the major access device, however, with 90.4% of Spaniards using these to connect to the web, followed by laptops, used by 53.5%, tablets, used by 35.2% and desktops uses by 33.4%.

Some 29.5% of smartphone users used their device to watch online video, according to the data. The most common use of smartphones was for online messaging, used by 82.9% of smartphone owners daily, followed by social networks, used by 46.8% and email, used by 37.6%.

Voice assistants made an appearance in the list of devices used to connect for the first time, used by 1.2% of Spaniards to connect to the web.

The CNMC’s data also showed that use of online video-calling had doubled in the year to June, with 27.3% using online video calling apps every day or almost every day, up from 14.6% last year.