Our forecast for digital video viewers in Canada highlights greater consumption of the medium during the pandemic.

Digital video viewership in the UK will continue to rise this year. The pandemic has provided a particularly significant impetus for subscription video-on-demand services, while connected TVs have become the consumption device of choice.

Lockdowns in the UK drove up video consumption, and multiperson households made good use of their multiple screens. Advertisers now need to adapt to an audience that is more device-agnostic and content-hungry than ever.

On today's episode, we discuss the most interesting takeaways from Netflix's Q3 earnings, how much of a boost "Squid Game" gave them, and what the rest of the year has in store for the streaming giant. We then talk about whether TV and social media ad spending is inflated compared to their respective daily consumption and whether a single TV currency is possible. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Ross Benes.

Digital video consumption began to boom. While 95.0% of internet users polled had watched live TV during the prior month in Q1, only 45.8% had watched TV shows via a broadcaster’s catch-up or on-demand service—a gain of almost 5 percentage points from H1 2020. This was, however, a much lower percentage than in Germany (69.8%), Spain (70.4%), or the UK (84.2%), for example.

By comparison, digital video consumption has surged. The share of internet users streaming free or paid-for video content jumped almost 10 percentage points in H1 2021, to 91.2%. (It should be noted that GWI included YouTube in its video category for the first time this year, and at least part of the increase is likely due to that.)

Despite the rise in digital video consumption, only 35.2% of internet users owned a smart TV in H1 2021. Affluence seems to be a determining factor; since 2019, smart TV ownership has aligned more closely with household income than with any other demographic trait.

Digital video consumption was above average among all younger adults and those in middle- and higher-income homes. But even in the oldest age bracket, over 85% of internet users had recently streamed video. Nonetheless, time spent with broadcast TV in H1 was more than half an hour greater than time spent with online TV and video, at 1 hour, 56 minutes (1:56) per day versus 1:22, respectively.

Yet the main cause is more likely the general surge in digital video consumption worldwide, which was already underway in 2019 and further accelerated by the pandemic. In keeping with that trend, smart TV penetration in Singapore climbed from 44.8% to 48.4% between 2020 and 2021. Digital audio apparently reached a smaller audience in 2021.

Digital video consumption continues to outstrip TV viewing, however, with 94.7% of China’s internet users accessing video-on-demand (VOD) services in the previous month. Respondents devoted an estimated 1 hour, 34 minutes (1:34) per day to online TV and video. And as in H1 2020, nearly 92% of respondents listened to digital audio, such as music or podcasts, and devoted 1:27 daily to music streaming.

Digital video consumption, which jumped during the pandemic in H1 2020, recorded another leap this year. Nearly 86% of internet users polled in H1 2021—including 99.6% of those ages 16 to 24, and over 90% of those in high-income homes—streamed video content in the previous month.

Digital video viewership, time spent with the medium, and video ad spending are all reaching new heights in Canada.

Today’s kids are more digital than previous generations at the same age. But, while digital video is certainly an important part of kids’ media diet, we estimate that just over half of those ages 11 and younger (52.4%) will be digital video viewers this year. TV penetration is still much higher (close to nine in 10), although time spent is declining.

A pandemic-fueled rise in digital video and audio consumption has continued into 2021. Broadcast TV still attracted a vast majority of internet users. As of Q1, 90.4% of those ages 16 to 64 had watched live TV in the prior month. More than three-quarters (78.2%) of respondents had used a TV channel’s catch-up or on-demand service, and nearly 57% had recorded TV programs to watch later.

Consumption of digital video is booming. The number of new formats and innovative content has flourished. And traditional broadcasters are experimenting with digital channels to keep pace with the changing user behavior.

The UK still lacks a verified measure of CTV ad spend, but that won’t be the case for long, given the importance of the TV set in digital video consumption. In 2022, measurement firms, from the traditional and digital worlds, will work together to find better answers to the CTV conundrum.

In Sweden, as elsewhere, the pandemic fueled wider consumption of digital video, including time-shifted TV viewing. In Q1 2021, 69.2% of internet users polled had used broadcasters’ catch-up services to view TV shows in the previous month. And in H1 2021, 94.6% had watched video-on-demand (VOD) in the prior month—surpassing the share of respondents who had viewed live TV by about 14 percentage points.

As a result, in 2021, CTV devices will account for nearly half (48.1%) of digital video consumption time among US adults, surpassing half (50.7%) by 2023. That growth has been stark: Just five years ago, CTV’s share of digital video usage was still 25.6%, while mobile captured 41.6%.

By the end of 2023, that share will grow to 39.0%, with adults watching digital videos for 1:52 daily. Almost a third (32.8%) of digital media time will go toward digital video viewing this year. Digital Video Choices Have Expanded. The increased consumption of digital video is certainly because people are spending more time at home during the pandemic.

With citywide lockdowns and ongoing social distancing measures in place, people throughout the Asia-Pacific region are spending more time at home consuming all forms of media—especially digital video.

On today's episode, we discuss how Spotify did in Q1, what to make of its new subscriptions for podcasts, and how we expect audio consumption habits to change this year. We then talk about why people still listen to the radio and best practices for voice ads. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle.

For our recent report on digital video in the UK, Graeme Hutcheson, director of advanced advertising strategy at Sky Media, the company’s advertising sales arm, outlined how the firm is dealing with changing consumption habits of its UK subscriber base and how it’s altering its advertising proposition as a result.

Greater consumption of free and paid-for digital video hasn’t replaced older forms of TV viewing, however. In Q1, nearly 85% of Thailand’s internet users had watched live TV in the month before polling, and over 60% had watched TV shows they recorded earlier. In addition, nearly 69% had used a broadcaster’s catch-up or on-demand service.

The only major deviation is the spike in digital video consumption. Adults in South Korea increased their time spent with digital video by 10.9% last year, and we project 9.3% growth this year and 9.1% growth next year. The amount of time that adults devote to watching digital videos each day will increase from 1:16 in 2019 to 1:41 in 2022.