Streaming services up by 273 per cent in Nigeria, South Africa, others

Streaming services in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and other parts of Africa, ranked highest at 273 per cent ahead of other regions of the world.

Streaming service is what happens when consumers watch TV or listen to podcasts on Internet-connected devices.

According to a report by online video optimisation and analytics firm, Conviva, in its State of Online Streaming Q3 2021 report, Africa recorded the highest, Oceania saw 80 per cent rise; South America 56 per cent; Asia 45 per cent; Europe 24 per cent; North America two per cent, while the rest of the globe witnessed 21 per cent growth.

The report observed that in addition to the overall increase in content consumption, streaming advertising also made gains after a rocky 2020.

According to it, between just this quarter and the last, ad attempts and ad impressions were up over 30 per cent, a good sign for publishers and advertisers alike. It revealed that just 15 per cent of ads in Q3 2021 were not delivered as intended, for an impressive 23 per cent decrease in missed ad opportunities quarter over quarter.

The Conviva report claimed that the leading streaming publishers consistently have a focus on extensive real-time analytics and intelligence for both their subscription and ad-based offerings to both optimize the customer experience and maximize return on investment.

It pointed out that as advertising quality improves and more advertisers see the value of doubling down on their investments in streaming, the caliber, relevancy, and overall ad experience for consumers is likely to improve as well.

Despite seeing a slight decrease in share over Q3 of last year, the State of Online Streaming report informed that big screens still accounted for almost three quarters of viewing time worldwide.

Conviva pointed out that Q3 2021 marks the first quarter that all six regions measured tallied buffering less than one per cent, after significant improvements in recent quarters.

The average streaming platform increased their content by 97 per cent on YouTube, resulting in an 8.4 per cent increase of average views per account and an increase in engagements of 24 per cent.

By region, big screen preference varied wildly. For instance, it says in North America, Roku accounted for a remarkable 39 per cent of viewing time, while it only saw a slim share in Europe and Oceania with six per cent, five per cent in South America, and in Africa, was just one per cent.

In Europe and Oceania, no big screen device dominated. Europe broke down with the top devices having only a few percentages among them – Samsung TV at 19 per cent; Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Linux STB each at 12 per cent; Android TV at 11 per cent; and LG TV with 10 per cent share.

While Oceania was similarly close; Chromecast with 21 per cent, Samsung TV and Android TV both at 17 per cent, PlayStation with 11 per cent, and Apple TV at 10 per cent.

Conviva noted that Africa had a much wider spread with Linux STB taking in the most share at 29 per cent while Chromecast, Android TV, and Samsung TV followed with around 15 per cent share each.

LG TV with eight per cent and PlayStation and Apple TV, both with seven per cent, rounded out the top devices in Africa.

While big screen viewing time in Asia is only 12 per cent share of the overall viewing time in the region, with 52 per cent share, Android TV clearly won the most share of any big screen device in any region as Asia’s big screen of choice. It was followed fairly closely by Amazon Fire TV with 22 per cent and then, there was a cliff. The other devices barely chart with the next closest share being Samsung TV with just eight per cent and LG TV at only six per cent.

Conviva noted that quality improvements in advertising, by device, and per region point to better experiences for consumers overall, which might be linked to the growth in streaming generally, “or perhaps the increasing interest in streaming by consumers is forcing streaming platforms to do better. Either way, it’s a win-win for content providers and consumers.”