Digital viewing of videos on digital devices by cable and satellite subscribers, known in industry parlance as TV Everywhere, is growing at a rapid clip this year, says Marty Roberts, Senior VP of Sales & Marketing at thePlatform in an interview with Beet.TV at the recent VideoNuze event in New York.
thePlatform is serving about 150 to 160 million video views from TV Everywhere per month and that’s up from 50% since the spring, he says. The increase comes in part from more programmers jumping into TV Everywhere this year, he says, citing Scripps, A&E and NBC as programmers making big strides in 2013. “It’s a watershed year for TV Everywhere,” he says.
Online distribution is now part of most TV carriage deals. “Anytime there is a conversation with a network group and their pay-TV distributor, TV Everywhere is part of the equation,” he says, with content ranging from VOD to linear to live events to sports.
Digital video consumption varies by device, he adds. PC viewing is high during the workday. “You can track lunch across the country as people catch up on their favorite shows during lunch,” Roberts says. The Platform has also seen tablet usage rise at night, and many homes use tablets as a second TV screen in the evening. Game consoles are also driving a large amount of views, but smart TVs aren’t. That may grow though as manufacturers test new strategies. “We expect consumption to go up as they get more penetration,” he says.
The Seattle based thePlatform, is a unit of Comcast. It provides it services to a number of companies outside of Comcast.
For more insight into consumption habits, mobile operating systems and advertising challenges in TV Everywhere, check out this video interview.
