OTT to push video content consumption up by 75% in 2021: MMA report

With the introduction of new over the top (OTT) platforms, video content consumption is projected to grow by 75% in 2021 from 49% in 2016, says the ‘Mobile Ecosystem and ad-Sizing Report’ 2018 published by Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in partnership with GroupM.

India registered 250 million online video viewers and 100 million OTT viewers, with video taking the largest share of the content consumption pie, the report said.

OTT players are creating original content and also including international stuff, which is helping them gain newer audiences and increase view time. The maximum growth is from tier 2 and tier 3 cities due to the availability of good vernacular content. Content created by YouTubers is also giving push to video viewing in India.

As the time spent on these platforms is growing, it is also opening advertising inventories, which is further making ads on video platforms more receptive. The report pointed out that 86% of TV-viewing consumers also interact with Facebook as their second screen while watching TV whereas for Twitter it is 66%. Marketers now have opportunities with video advertising where they can not only leverage made-for-TV content on platforms such as Hotstar, Voot and Zee5 but also take from consumer-created content like vlogs, Snapchat stories, Instagram stories, periscope live feed or Facebook live video.

Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, MMA Asia Pacific, said, “Mobile Marketing is now a mainstream advertising and marketing medium and it is imperative we start to decipher various parts of this burgeoning media. We hope the study would provide insights to marketers and the industry on the whole on the opportunity and will help in making the right investments for its continuing growth.”

The report predicts that the OTT market will keep on growing as good content and good vernacular content is created for audiences from all regions. Another dimension to the adoption is streaming sports in real-time. Hotstar saw tremendous growth in their viewership with IPL matches. Mobile is increasingly becoming the preferred screen as opposed to a catch-up screen vs. TV.

The analysis further adds that a majority of the content available on the homegrown video OTT players are from their TV channels.

Even though one can now record content on TV via digital set-top boxes, having one platform that has all the TV content without having to record or browse multiple channels is one of the main reasons people are adopting OTT platforms.

The number of video-capable devices and connections are also expected to grow 2.2X between 2016 and 2021, reaching 800 million in India. The average time spent in viewing video content is higher than the global average. Globally, people spend an average of 45 minutes daily on their smartphones to watch videos while in India, it is slightly higher with 50 minutes spent daily.

The report says the reach of mobile internet among consumers in India is driven by the growth of Reliance Jio, which has captured 18% of the total market within 1.5 years-2years of its launch. The launch of Jio has added more than 200 million users to the mobile ecosystem. 4G data usage has grown by 144 per cent in 2017. The analysis further points that Jio has added 26% rural subscribers using 4G and incumbents added 53% of their 4G subscribers to the rural market. As per the report, rural India is enabling mobile internet growth in India, adding 100 mn users since 2015.

Sam Singh, Co-Chair of Mobile Marketing Association India and CEO GroupM, said, “The number of smartphone users is expected to only go up and it just shows how much potential these digital screens have. Hence, we as marketers must understand various facets of mobile marketing. Times are changing fast and we want to enable marketers with the knowledge that can help them in the long run.”

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