TV Everywhere apps are still disjointed in terms of the content offered and what’s accessible to viewers in or out of the home, but advertising views in the still nascent segment continue to climb all the same.
Authenticated ad views on long-form and live content grew 619% in the second quarter versus the year-ago period, with 38% of ad views happening in TV Everywhere environments, FreeWheel found in its latest Video Monetization Report.
Thanks to “tent-pole” events such as the World Cup, NBA playoffs and NHL playoffs, online live ad views in the second quarter jumped 201%, accounting for 18% of all ad views for programmers, said FreeWheel, the online ad specialist that was acquired by Comcast in March 2014.
Ad viewing share in sporting events (81%) dwarfed all other categories – news (9%), scripted dramas (7%) and comedy/variety (3%). But overall live “entertainment simulcasts” still grew – accounting for 10% of live monetization, up from 6% in the first quarter.
According to FreeWheel, the ad view share for on-demand content was far more fragmented: news (21%), documentary/reality (20%), sports (15%), scripted dramas (14%), music/trailers (13%), comedy/variety (12%), kids (3%), and games (2%).
Overall ad views of long-form content surged 35% year-over-year. “This strong growth continues a trend we have observed over multiple quarters as the relationship between viewers and online video more closely mirrors that of traditional TV,” FreeWheel said.
By device type, 76% of ad views occurred on desktops and laptops (down 1% year-over year), 13% on smartphones (up 93%), 7% on tablets (up 26%), and 4% on “OTT devices” (up 236%).
In the rapidly expanding OTT device category, 34% of ad views took place on the Roku platform, followed by gaming consoles (33%), the Apple TV (26%), and the Google Chromecast (7%).
