Apple TV and Android see increase in streaming video viewership in Q1

Conviva, a video AI platform with visibility into the streaming market through clients like HBO, Turner, Hulu, CBS, NBC, ESPN, BT and Sky, is reporting today 114 percent year-over-year growth in streaming video hours in Q1 2018 to reach nearly 5 billion hours of video viewing. Even though streaming is growing worldwide, North America saw the largest growth in viewing hours, with a 174 percent increase quarter-over-quarter. Other platforms seeing notable increases included Apple TV and Android, the report found.

Much of today’s streaming takes place in apps on mobile devices and internet-connected TVs, as opposed to the web. That led to these platforms seeing significant growth in the quarter, with app-based viewing up 136 percent since last year.

Device makers which provide the apps, including Apple and Roku, also benefited from the growth in streaming, the report found. Apple TV, for example saw 709 percent growth in viewing hours over last year, while viewing hours on Roku grew by 87 percent.

Keep in mind that growth is not the same as popularity – that is, it’s not about how many total hours are being viewing on those platforms. Roku is still far in the lead on that metric, with over a billion hours streamed versus Apple TV’s 256 million. (Conviva’s numbers, because of the source of its data, are only a window into the market, we should note. Roku users streamed a little under 15 billion hours last year, so they’re streaming more than a billion per quarter. But Conviva’s report does speak to the bigger picture where Roku is outpacing rivals on streaming hours, including Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and others.)

Another interesting finding for the quarter was the growth in streaming on Android devices. On Android, device plays were up 168 percent quarter-over-quarter, versus iOS’s 138 percent increase.

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