Mobile is growing and TV is slowing. According to a new analysis by Flurry, a Yahoo!-owned mobile analytics company, Americans now spend more time watching the screen on their mobile device than watching TV. The analysis indicates that the average consumer in the US spends 2 hours and 57 minutes on mobile devices daily, a 9.3% growth since the beginning of the year, while time spent on TV has remained flat at 2 hours and 48 minutes daily.
When you think of all the things you turn to your mobile device for, the minutes quickly add up: weather, news, shopping, banking, and of course video on-demand. From a branding, content, consumption, and monetization perspective, the shift from TV to mobile as the first screen has many implications. First and foremost is reaching your potential content consumers where they spend their time. Second is making sure the experience and interaction is seamless, enjoyable, and aligns with the user’s expectations.
Video, whether in the form of catch-up TV or headline content like a news story, is a key component of many mobile experiences. According to recent consumer research, the most frustrating part of online video is having to wait for videos to load or buffer (36%) – followed closely by ‘annoying adverts’ (28%) and not being able to get the same quality content across different devices (26%). So although consumers may be turning to their mobile device more, that doesn’t mean they are getting all the content they want or are going to remain satisfied with the quality.
If content producers want to get a head of the curve, the focus needs to be on creating a consistent, high-quality mobile experience that closely mimics the one consumers are used to seeing on TV. The underlying reason why mobile is experiencing so much growth is that consumers like to view and consume content whenever they want. However, if the quality doesn’t match up, they may quickly chose another site or app that offers similar content but of higher quality.
So, how do you ensure you’re effectively meeting your customers? A fast, high-quality player and a reliable experience management system is a good place to start. Watch the video below for more information on Brightcove Perform, a high performance service for creating and managing video player experiences that will help align your video distribution strategy with the expectation of today’s and tomorrow’s consumer.