FreeWheel, a video ad-serving platform acquired by Comcast in March, recently released its ‘Q3 2014 Video Monetization Report.’ It has become clear that more and more viewers are screen agnostic and publishers are better able to monetize streaming video, but the report shows how rapidly these trends are progressing. Perhaps this is why Yahoo acquired FreeWheel competitor BrightRoll last week for $640 million (Comcast paid “just” $340 million for FreeWheel).
In just the last year authenticated ad views have grown 368%, accounting for 46% of all long-form ad views; mid-roll ad break durations are up to an average of 101 seconds per break; over-the-top (OTT) device viewing has grown 208%.
Below, more highlights from the report (which, for publishers or those in the TV Everywhere space, is a must-read)
– Live viewing was up 214% year-over-year, driven by significant growth in sports streaming and news simulcasts.
– Monetization continues to move cross-platform, with 27% of video ad views coming outside desktop and laptop environments.
– Authenticated viewing grew 368% year-over-year as 46% of all video ad views on long-form and live content now come from behind authentication walls. Authenticated viewing is relatively evenly split between live and on-demand content.
– Viewers are seeing more TV-like ad experiences on long-form content, yet completion rates remain high.
– 58% of all clients and 79% of Programmer clients are using measurement currencies such as OCR and vCE.
– The UK market is more aggressive than the US with regards to monetizing long-form content and less aggressive with regards o using pre-rolls on short-form content.