TV Everywhere Ad Views Skyrocket: FreeWheel

MVPDs are still solving the TV Everywhere riddle, but new data shows that usage of authenticated apps is clearly on the rise.

In its latest Video Monetization Report, FreeWheel, the Comcast-owned advanced ad specialist, said authenticated ad viewing jumped 368% year-over-year, with 46% of all video ad views on long-form (20 minutes or more) and live content coming from behind authentication walls.

FreeWheel’s quarterly report, for the first time, also analyzed how viewers were accessing authenticated video at the device level. OTT devices accounted for a greater share of authenticated video ad views at 22%, while desktop and laptop computers (64%) and smartphones (7%) saw lower shares (see chart above).

Buoyed by major sporting events such as the World Cup and news simulcasts, online live TV viewing was up 214%, with live accounting for 21% of all video ad views for programmers, the report found.

FreeWheel, which based its findings on north of 50 billion video views during the first half of 2014, said more than a quarter of monetization during the third quarter of 2014 came outside of desktops and laptops, as usage on smartphones (up 77%) and OTT devices (up 208%) exploded.

Boiled down further, 8% of monetization came from smartphones (down from 14% year-on year), while OTT device-based monetization rose from 2% to 6%.