Streaming now mainstream as two-thirds of adults consume video-on-demand

15 May 2015

Streaming is now mainstream in Ireland with two-thirds of all adults having viewed video-on-demand services within the last six months, according to new research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Nielsen.

The figure skews higher for adults in the 16 to 34 age group (87pc) and also for housekeepers with kids (84pc).

More than 47pc of adults over 45 have also watched video-on-demand services ranging from Netflix to YouTube in the last six months.

The figures illustrate that video-on-demand (VOD) is becoming more and more mainstream in Ireland.

IAB and Nielsen define VOD as streamed, downloaded video content on any device such as a tablet, smartphone, notebook, desktop, smart TV or games console, including professionally and user-generated content.

Tablet potatoes

VOD_IAB_2015

Daily VOD consumption has increased by 5pc in the last 6 months. Again looking at specific demographics, the highest increases in terms of daily consumption are among adults 16-24 (+12pc) and adults 45+ (+7pc)

VOD delivers hard-to-reach audiences. 71pc of 16-34 VOD viewers are more likely to be light / medium TV viewers. More than half (56pc) of 16-24s claim to watch more VOD than TV.

Free services are the most popular platforms and deliver the highest reach. 86pc of VOD viewers accessed VOD via free platforms from broadcast players, TV3, RTE, All4 as well as YouTube and other social channels.

Advertising in and around VOD content leads to further brand engagement. 28pc of VOD viewers searched for a brand as a result of seeing the video ad.

“IAB’s Power of VOD 2 research, demonstrates that Irish consumers’ strong engagement with VOD continues to accelerate in 2015,” said Maeve O’Meara, marketing manager at IAB Ireland.

“It is not surprising that brands are increasingly harnessing the power of VOD in their advertising campaigns,” O’Meara said.

Streaming image via Shutterstock

 

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com