Mobile video viewing on smartphones and tablets will account for more than 20% of total video viewing minutes in the US by 2025, according to new research from The Diffusion Group.
The company’s TV Gets Personal report reveals strong mobile growth over the next decade, while pointing towards a “redefinition” of the way in which people watch TV.
“The concept of ‘watching television’ is being redefined,” said the report’s author and senior analyst at TDG, Joel Espelien.
“Transforming from a social medium characterised by groups of viewers sitting in front of the living room television, to an individual medium defined by solitary viewers watching programmes on smaller, more personal devices such as tablets and smartphones.”
TDG states that the transformation in video viewing represents the replacement of mass-market broadcasting by personalised video apps – some of which are already generating half of their total video traffic from mobile devices.
The report outlines a combination of factors driving the shift, including the strong personal relationship between consumers and their mobile devices, rapid product development cycles, high-speed data services and the increasing availability of video apps.
Espelien adds that the rise of mobile viewing – and the associated decline of traditional TV and PV viewing – presents “significant strategic challenges” to TV industry stakeholders.
“According to February 2015 TDG research, close to 80% of tablet viewing and 50% of smartphone viewing takes place in the home,” he said.
“It’s less about ‘mobile viewing’ as commonly imagined and more about the individualisation and personalisation of TV itself.”
