Mobile video has exploded for three reasons: one is the rollout of faster 4G LTE wireless networks, which support on-the-go video habits.
A second reason is that younger audiences are adopting mobile video habits very quickly.
Another is the spread of tablets. Devices like the full-size iPad and Kindle Fire— with their nine or 10-inch high resolution screens — are emerging as consumers' favored video playback devices.
But mobile industry analysts are mistaken if they believe consumers don't watch video on their smartphones.
In a new report, BI Intelligence breaks down the mobile video ecosystem, analyzing the behavior and devices behind the growth in consumption, examining the demographics and behavior of mobile video consumers, detailing how mobile video monetization is booming, and looking at potential barriers to mobile video's continued rise.
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Here's a brief overview of the new video ecosystem, with mobile devices - rather than television - at the center:
- Smartphones play a key role as users consume video throughout the day: U.S., video on mobile phones reached an audience of 41 million by year-end 2012, a 22 percent increase over 2011, according to Nielsen. It's important, however, to keep this figure in perspective. The U.S. audience for traditional TV is north of 280 million people.
- But tablets are doing the heavy lifting in mobile video: Although there are far fewer tablets in circulation than smartphones, tablets account for 3.7% of all online video hours watched globally, compared to 4.5% for smartphones. Tablet users also tend to watch video according to patterns similar to those of traditional TV audiences. This makes them easier to understand and target for marketers and broadcasters who are already comfortable with the world of TV. For example, tablet video viewers tend to spend most of their time on longer videos.
- Younger audiences are watching mobile video: Audiences in their teens and twenties are pioneering the shift away from pay and broadcast TV and toward on-demand and mobile video. Consumers in the younger age brackets are the most avid watchers of video on their phones. According to Nielsen, U.S. audiences aged 12 to 17 watched 24 minutes of video on a mobile phone weekly; those aged 18 to 24 watched 28 minutes. That's more than twice as much as the average person. Also, both age groups watched about two-thirds the amount of traditional TV as the U.S. average.
- And the mobile video ad market is rolling on: Just as it is on the desktop PC, video continues to be a bright spot in a generally murky picture for advertising on mobile. That's reflected in the much higher prices that mobile publishers can command for mobile video ads, compared to standard mobile formats like banners. eMarketer estimates mobile video will account for $520 million in ad spending in the U.S. this year, or 13% of the digital video ad market.
- Breaks down the mobile video ecosystem
- Analyzes the behavior and devices behind the growth in mobile video consumption
- Examines the demographics and behavior of mobile video consumers
- Details the mobile video monetization opportunity
- Looks at potential barriers to mobile video's continued rise
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