Samsung Ads reports rise in app-based TV viewing across European markets

Source: Samsung Ads

Samsung Ads has reported there is a growing shift towards app-based TV viewing, with more than 7.1bn app opens on Samsung Smart TVs in the EU5 during the first half of the year.

In a new report of the ‘Behind the Screens’ series by Samsung Ads, among the EU5 the UK saw 1.7bn app opens during the first six months of the year. This represents a 3% MoM growth in the country.

The company revealed 84% of Samsung TV owners are now streaming up by 11% YoY. While in September alone, exclusive streamers averaged 81 hours per TV per month.

In addition, ad-funded streaming saw an 18% year-on-year growth, with FAST growing by 32% and BVOD up by 24%. Despite 87% of streamers accessing SVOD content, it showed the slowest growth compared to other VOD types, at 7%.

Matt Bryan, director of analytics & insights, Samsung Ads Europe, said, “TV is still TV and viewers love to enjoy great content, but how they get to that content has changed drastically. With SVOD reaching maturity, app-based viewing now dictates how we make decisions on what content to watch and AVOD and FAST are seeing a significant shift here too. The challenge for apps now is to attract new viewers and prevent churn. Leveraging key insights such as these will be what sets apps apart and bolster their capabilities in such a crowded and competitive market.”

Alex Hole, vice president and general manager, Samsung Electronics Europe, said, “In this (re)emerging ad-funded era, it’s clear that cost and content prevail. After a decade of ad-free streaming, it’s encouraging to see platforms shifting their focus on drawing in the widest audience by catering to all wallet sizes and addressing all wants and needs. With the rise of TV app based viewing, behaviour is becoming even more complex within TV – making it important to factor in these growing streaming audiences”.