Mobile Phone Hang-Ups: Viewers Wary of Using Up Their Data

Despite an increasing consumer appetite for digital content, 广播电视仍然占据主导地位. 事实上, 根据尼尔森, broadcast television is watched five times as much as online programs, even though connected TVs (which include apps capable of accessing online content) reached 50 percent market penetration in the U.S. in 2015.

So, what’s been keeping online video from really taking off? 不是因为带宽不够. Akamai has been consistently reporting that bandwidth speeds are increasing around the world. 也不是缺少内容可用性. Both pure-play over-the-top (OTT) providers and traditional broadcasters are jumping into the online video arena. 在你打出“体育直播”牌之前,” the NFL recently announced that live games will be available as part of its flagship OTT service, CBS All Access.

If everything seems to be pointing toward online video, why has it yet to become the de facto method by which we consume video content?

简而言之，就是手机.

在最近发表的一项研究中流媒体视频联盟关于移动视频行为, we found that the biggest frustration people have about watching video on their smartphones is that it requires data. (第二大挫折是缓冲.) What’s more, per data from 网飞公司, the mobile phone represents only 9 percent of primary usage. It’s abundantly clear that people are reticent about watching video on their mobile phones because it’s going to eat into their data allowances. 然而,, 根据流媒体视频联盟的同一项研究, people are beginning to use their mobile phones to watch more video. 千禧一代尤其如此, who employ it more often than many other online-video capable devices including smart TVs, Chromecast, 和平板电脑. This is all in light of the fact that most of us are carrying around a veritable super computer in our pockets, 我们每天都要检查几百次. 毫无疑问, the mobile phone is an important part of our everyday lives. What I’m proposing is that our inability to consume more content on the smaller screen (because of how much data streaming requires) is what’s really holding online video back.

这种情况可能不会再发生了.

网飞公司, 全球在线视频消费巨头, recently announced that its subscribers can download some content to their smartphones 和平板电脑 for offline viewing. Amazon introduced a similar plan for Prime members in 2015. That means data is no longer required to stream content. 订阅rs can grab what they want (as much as their devices can hold) while connected to their home Wi-Fi and watch it whenever and wherever they want, though both Amazon and 网飞公司 place some limits on how long subscribers have to view the content. This will have a huge impact on the transition away from broadcast television. It means that people can use the device they have with them most often to watch video content. 当然, it’s no longer “online video” when it’s watched offline, but that is a moot point when you consider where the content originated. It’s a sign of the “new world order” for the television experience, and this new 网飞公司 feature punctuates that this transition is going to pick up some serious speed.

确定, 数据和缓冲仍然是实时的问题, 线性内容(如体育和其他事件), but many organizations are working to address those challenges. 运营商正在改善他们的网络(5G即将到来), 多比特ABR将会发生), 运营商也在增加用户的数据流量额度.

毫无疑问, 网飞公司 and Amazon have removed the shackles for watching video on the smartphone (it will be interesting to see their device stats over the next 6 to 9 months). And, in doing so, they have given an unquantifiable push to the transition. 你就看着吧，给它几个月, 但我敢打赌，当你在地铁上环顾四周时, 或者在杂货店排队, you’ll see a lot more people watching video on those smaller screens.

[This article appears in the January/February 2017 issue of 流媒体杂志 作为“移动优先”."]