Netflix and Amazon coming up short on mobile devices as viewers continue to consume content in-home
Video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon are falling short of their potential on mobile devices, according to new research on OTT viewing habits which shows that 98% of video content is consumed in-home.
Around 98% of video content is consumed in-home
Market research firm GfK, found that while 90% of the UK’s OTT users have access to a mobile device, only 4% used smartphones to watch content and just one in 10 used a smartphone.
The study revealed that having invested in a subscription to one or more video services, viewers are almost unanimous in their preference to watch content at home with smart TVs the most popular device.
Overall, 98% of all content is viewed at home and 86% of all content viewed on a mobile device is also watched at home through wi-fi.
The findings point to inadequate data usage allowances as a barrier to subscribers using the OTT services when out of home, although the smaller screens and less static nature of out-of-home behaviour are also contributing factors.
With both Amazon Prime and Netflix now offering users the ability to download content, behaviours could shift going forward.
Dan Hardwick, senior research executive at GfK, said the research show that despite the “runaway success of OTT services over the past couple of years, viewing remains very much an activity done at home on a large screen".
He added: “Given the near universal ownership of mobile devices among OTT users, Netflix, Amazon and Now TV are still yet to properly exploit the vast potential that clearly exists for OTT viewing on mobiles out of home.
“Though Amazon has been the first to offer this functionality to subscribers and Netflix has recently also launched an option for users to download content, they are yet to transform OTT viewing from an activity done solely at home on a TV to one also done on the move on mobile devices.”