MUMBAI: Streaming viewership saw rapid increase in the first quarter of the year with time spent up by 57 per cent globally year over year. On-demand content drove the lion’s share of this growth, as per a report from Conviva. Moreover, March proved a turning point in the acceleration of streaming, as stay-at-home orders rolled out in countries and regions around the world.

“On demand content carried the lion’s share of growth, up 79 per cent and capturing 72 per cent share of viewing time in Q1, up from 63 per cent share in Q1 2019. Live programming grew more modestly, up just 19 per cent overall and lost market share to 28 per cent from 37 per cent the previous Q1,” the report said.

Growth was led by Europe, up 70 per cent, and the Americas, up 57 per cent, while Asia and Africa saw 30 per cent and 25 per cent viewing growth respectively.

The report also stated that as viewers stayed home in March, consumption habits shifted rapidly. In the span of a single month, comparing February 2020 to March 2020, overall time spent streaming grew a stunning 20 per cent with on demand viewing up 28 per cent.

However, missed ad opportunities rose up to 26.9 per cent in Q1 as compared to Q4 of 2019 in the wake of Covid2019 pandemic. For 46.3 per cent of missed streaming ad opportunities, the most common issue was the lack of ad demand. While the report predicted that advertising will continue to be dampened by the evolving situation, it will return with fervor in 2021 and beyond. The advertising data included in the report is based on an analysis of 12.5 billion ad attempts in Q1.