2009 ends with increasing engagement with premium mobile video

[from C2M (Content to Mobile) Bi-Weekly Newsletter]

Joe O’Halloran

Editor C2M

QuickPlay Media’s now traditional quarterly survey of its mobile TV and video users has revealed increases in average number of downloads per user and average viewing time per stream.

The latest findings from the provider of mobile video business management software, compiled between 1 October and 31 December 31 2009, found that the average downloads per user rose from 8.3 in Q3 2009 to 9.9 in Q4 2009.

This growth, says the company, was driven primarily by PrimeTime2Go, its premium mobile TV service featuring full episodes of TV shows from leading networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, MTVN and Discovery Channel. Overall, 2009 saw steady quarter-over-quarter growth in average downloads per user, with a 57% overall increase from Q1 to Q4.

Viewing of streamed content also increased in the survey, with increases in both total streams viewed and the average length of time consumers spent viewing streams. During Q409, the typical amount of time consumers spent viewing a stream saw a sharp increase from three minutes and 13 seconds in Q3 to four minutes and 14 seconds. The growth continued steadily throughout each quarter in 2009, with a 70% overall increase from Q1 to Q4. QuickPlay attributes this in part to the increasing availability of popular long-form content and growing adoption of media-friendly smartphone devices.

The most popular video download genres in the quarter were music, followed by entertainment, movie previews and comedy. For live TV streams, the top preferences were sports, news/talk, kids’ entertainment, weather and comedy, while video stream favourites included user-generated content, sports and news. User-generated content ranked number one in the streaming video category for each quarter, while music remained the top download genre quarter-over-quarter.

“These findings show a rise in engagement with premium mobile video services in 2009 and are a clear indication that users continue to demand a variety of options for consuming content,” said Wayne Purboo, president and CEO, QuickPlay Media. “Mobile video services and devices have rapidly evolved to become a compelling alternative to other sources of television content,” added Susan Kevorkian, program director, Mobile Media & Entertainment at IDC.