Stronger Competition Spurring VOD, Linear TV Playtime Declines: NPAW

Increased VOD service competition is leading to an ongoing decline in average daily playtime per user per service, NPAW said in a streaming video industry report Thursday. Playtime was down 11% in the first half of 2022 vs. the same six-month span in 2021, and that came after a 9% drop between 2021 and 2020, it said. In North America, average daily playtime per user per service went from 90 minutes in first half of 2021 to 75 minutes in that time frame this year. Linear TV consumption per user per service was down 18% in 1H of 2022 vs. 1H 2021, with the drop particularly pronounced in Latin America and the Pacific, it said. In North America, the average daily linear TV playtime per user per service went from 76 minutes to 72 minutes, it said. The streaming linear TV decline also seems to be the result of increased competition, it said. It said such events as the Winter Olympics and the closing of the season for some major sports leagues juiced streaming sports viewing. H1 2022 saw a 12% jump in average daily playtime per user per service for VOD over the same period last year, while linear consumption was up 13%, it said.