LIBERTY MEDIA CHAIRMAN JOHN MALONE recently issued a harsh assessment that “TV Everywhere is TV no where,” but recent numbers show that authenticated video viewing is starting to take off.
TV Everywhere viewing grew by 282% in the first quarter of 2015, versus the year-ago quarter, according to a new online video report from Adobe Digital Index that based its findings on more than 200 billion online video starts and 2.8 billion TVE authentications for “premium video content.”
Adobe said the surge in authenticated viewing can’t be attributed to tent-pole, one-off events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup, noting that TVE is now starting to see broader, organic growth.
Adobe also found that over-the-top devices such as Apple TV boxes and gaming consoles now represent one in every four TVE authentications.
Per Adobe’s findings, the Apple TV doubled its share of premium video viewing in the span of just one quarter — growing from 5% in the fourth quarter of 2014, to 10% in the first quarter of 2015, enough to overtake Roku. Adobe attributed that in part to the recent price drop on the Apple TV (from $99 to $69) and access to additional programming, including HBO Now, HBO’s new standalone streaming service.
On a broader platform basis, Apple’s iOS represented 47% of premium video viewing in the first quarter, up from 43% a year earlier, while Android remained fl at, at 15%. Viewing premium video via a Web browser sunk to a new low: 14%.
The study also found that iOS devices such as the iPad and iPhone were responsible for 24% of unauthenticated viewing, enough to lead the category.
