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For the vast majority of television’s history, users were only able to watch a scheduled program at the specific time and channel it was offered on. With the advent of the internet, online video streaming sites, and tablets and smartphones, traditional TV is becoming less important as medium to broadcast content. Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report, which was published last week, gives even more insight into the future of online video.
1) Shipments of tablets and smartphones are growing at 4x to 5x the rate of TVs and computers. The exponential rates of growth will continue, and we will see most households have access to online video from mutiple screens.
2) Smartphones will become the world’s No. 1 instrument to access content. We have already seen this in many countries, including the US.
3) 84 percent of current smartphone owners use them while watching television. We can expect to see collaboration between television and mobile in order to produce new, innovative content.
4) Traditional television channels such as ESPN and HBO have found a lot of success with producing on-demand mobile apps. We can expect to see more television channels jump on board with this model, as it increases user engagement.
5) The millennial generation watches content online at 3x the rate of all other generations. We can expect this number to climb with the next generation.
6) Spectator gaming is fast becoming one of the most popular genres in online video. The leading spectator gaming video site, Twitch, has 45 million MAU, and has increased its user base by 460 percent over the past three years. We can figure that more spectator gaming sites will appear in the coming years with more sophisticated content.
7) With the option to skip the ad, YouTube has developed an online advertising system which allows marketers to pay-per-view. Online video advertising will become more targeted and direct, especially with the expansion of data mining.
8) We are only scratching the surface of the wealth of data being collected on the Internet. The future will bring a better understanding of data mining, and a proliferation of the applications data mining will bring.
