New Data From Conviva Reveals Global Spike in Streaming During First Quarter 2021; Viewers Flocking to Big Screens

Quarterly State of Streaming Report Details Roku’s Lack of International Penetration, Surge in Streaming Ads and the Value of Social Streaming

Conviva's State of Streaming Report - Q1 2021 (Graphic: Business Wire)

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--()--Conviva, the intelligence cloud for streaming media, released its State of Streaming report for Q1 2021 today, revealing streaming viewing time grew 36% during the first quarter. While North America, the world’s biggest streaming market, saw solid 18% year-over-year growth in streaming viewing, the true streaming explosion occurred internationally, with South America (240%), Africa (149%) and Europe (122%) experiencing triple-digit streaming growth.

The report also revealed consumers are flocking to connected TV devices, smart TVs and gaming consoles, as evidenced in big screens commanding 73% share of Q1 streaming viewing globally. Roku and Amazon Fire TV, while still dominant, saw a slight decline (2.9% and 3.6% respectively) in share of viewing time in Q1, as international viewing and smart TVs continued to surge globally. While Roku captured a significant 30% share of global big screen viewing time, this dominance was primarily driven by North America where it commanded 37% share in Q1 2021. In Europe, the second largest market for Roku, Roku only accounted for 8% share of the big screen, and it did not fare any better in other regions, with 4% share or less in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America.

“In every region in the world, streaming viewership is growing, representing a global shift in the way people consume content,” said Bill Demas, CEO, Conviva. “This rapidly expanding international audience has created an enormous opportunity for content developers, device manufacturers and advertisers to engage new audiences as the brands and publishers who understand exactly how, when and where people are streaming, will inevitably triumph.”

Streaming Viewing Grows Globally; Varies by Region

According to Conviva’s findings, there is significant variation in the way consumers in different regions stream on big screens. In Africa, where big screens represent 56% of all viewing time, CanalPlus set top box was the preferred device, with 54% share of all Q1 big screen viewing time. In Asia, Android TV held 49% of all Q1 big screen viewing time, while in North America, where big screens are responsible for 81% of all viewing time, Roku continued to dominate with 37% share. In Europe, big screen viewing time was divided relatively equally among devices, while in Oceania, Chromecast ruled with 24% and in South America, Samsung TV held 30% share of big screen viewing.

Streaming Ads Surge and Improve; Super Bowl Pays Dividends

Q1 2021 saw a post-pandemic resurgence of streaming ads, with ad attempts growing 4%, ad impressions jumping 13% and missed ad opportunities falling 16% quarter over quarter. Ad quality also improved in Q1 2021 with ad start times down to half a second, a 50% improvement, and bitrates up 57% as compared to Q4 2020. Conviva also found advertisers experienced significant ROI from their Super Bowl efforts, sustaining nearly three times the level of social engagement post-Super Bowl as compared to pre-Super Bowl.

Streaming Publishers Find Success on Social

Social platforms continue to deliver strong ROI for streaming publishers, delivering new audiences and increased engagement. The total number of posts from streaming publishers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube combined grew 99% in Q1 2021 as compared to Q1 2020, with total videos increasing 39% and total engagements increasing 24%. Audience growth across all social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, grew 61% year over year.

To learn more visit: www.conviva.com/state-of-streaming

Methodology

Data for Conviva’s State of Streaming report was primarily collected from Conviva’s proprietary sensor technology currently embedded in 3.3 billion streaming video applications, measuring in excess of 500 million unique viewers watching 180 billion streams per year with 1.5 trillion real-time transactions per day across more than 180 countries. Year-over-year comparisons were normalized at the customer level for accurate representations of industry growth. The social media data consists of data from over 900 accounts, over 1.8 million posts, 910 thousand videos, 6 billion video views, and over 35 billion engagements across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.

About Conviva

Conviva is the intelligence cloud for streaming media. Powered by our patented Stream Sensor™ and StreamID™, our real-time platform enables marketers, advertisers, tech ops, engineering and customer care teams to build, engage and monetize their audiences. Conviva is dedicated to supporting brands like CCTV, DAZN, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, Sky, Sling TV, TED and WarnerMedia as they unlock the incredible opportunity in streaming media. Today our platform processes nearly 2 trillion streaming data events daily, supporting more than 500 million unique viewers watching 180 billion streams per year across 3.3 billion applications streaming on devices. Conviva ensures digital businesses of all sizes can stream better—every stream, every screen, every second.

Contacts

Paula Winkel
pr@conviva.com

Release Summary

Conviva's State of Streaming report highlights continued trends and new directions appearing for the streaming industry in the first quarter of 2021.

Contacts

Paula Winkel
pr@conviva.com