OMG Hong Kong’s latest Video Content Viewing Landscape Study
OMD Hong Kong
17 November 2020

Click here for the infographic highlights from the OMG Hong Kong Video Content Viewing landscape study – WAVE V. You can find a link to a video of the full report here.

 

Omnicom Media Group Hong Kong has concluded Wave V of its study on Hong Kong’s Video Content Viewing Landscape in partnership with Toluna, a leading provider of real-time digital consumer insights.  We also examined video viewership on social media and consumers’ habits on watching video content.  From June 19 to July 14, 2020, online questionnaires were used to survey a sample of 1,000 consumers aged 18-59 who have watched any TV or online video in the past seven days.  We covered multiple platforms across Free TV, Pay TV, Digital Platforms, and social Media.

“We have been observing the trends of the video viewing landscape in Hong Kong for many years as we are committed to understanding and uncovering evolving consumer trends.  The recent events of Covid-19 have further altered audience behavior, so we wanted to offer timely insights to help marketers navigate through the changing landscape” – Deric Wong, Omnicom Media Group CEO.

Outlined below are some key take outs from the study and media consideration for both advertisers and platforms,

 

  1. Overall Video Landscape

The audience’s total viewing time reaches 67.0 hours per week in 2020, and it appears almost to get to a saturation point.

  • Viewing time of Digital Platforms remains high (23.0 hours per week) in 2020.
  • There is a slight fall in viewing time of Free TV (21.4 hours per week).
  • On Social Media, the audience spends more time watching video (18.5 hours per week).  It shows the audience is shifting from Free TV to Social Media for video viewing.

Video viewership: Facebook (82%) and YouTube (74%) become the two top penetrated platforms.  TVB is still the video platform that the audience spends most of the time with (10.1 hours per week).  TVB is the central Free TV platform in Hong Kong as it contributes to almost half of all Free TV viewing time (21.4 hours per week).

 

  1. Viewership and Viewing Time across Platforms

Free TV: Two of Hong Kong’s Free TV, TVB and ViuTV, dip in viewership and viewing time compared to RTHK and HK OpenTV which have gained viewership.

Digital Platforms: YouTube experiences a decrease in viewership.  However, viewing time of YouTube still manages to go up (from 8.8 to 9.3 hours per week), implying that YouTube audiences spend more time on the platform than they did before.

Among all OTT platforms, both myTV SUPER and NETFLIX dominate in viewership in the past seven days, with penetration of 30% and a similar viewing time per week (myTV SUPER: 3.2 hours per week and NETFLIX: 3.5 hours per week).

  • NETFLIX increases in penetration and viewing time across ages.  The increase in viewing time (2.4 to 3.5 hours per week) is very remarkable.  Overall, Netflix gains substantial growth in subscriptions.
  • A lot of audiences (26%) have subscribed to OTTs in the past six months.  These subscriptions have been due to COVID-19 (51%) and increased interest in foreign content (57%).

Social Media: The popularity of video viewing on Facebook and Instagram remains very high and exceeds the number of video platforms.

  • Facebook (82%) tops YouTube (74%) and all other platforms in penetration and becomes the major source of news for audiences (esp. those aged 18-34).
  • For Instagram, penetration of those aged 44 or below almost reach a ceiling in the previous year, whereas more audience (43% to 48%) aged 45 or above use Instagram to watch video content.

 

  1. Viewing Preference on Digital Platforms and Social Media (e.g. YouTube, Facebook and Instagram)

Video ad: 61% of the audience say they do not want to see advertisements on digital platforms, yet they are reluctant to pay for ad-free service.

In terms of viewing video ads, audiences would rather see them before the start of the video.  Shorter video ad also translates to higher acceptance, and therefore, the acceptance of 5-10s video ad tends to be present at different points of the video.

Living streaming on Digital Platforms becomes a large part of consumers’ viewing experience. 64% audience have seen a live streamed video in the past 7 days. Facebook is the top video streaming channel for audience aged 35-44 whereas YouTube and Instagram are more deployed by those under 34 years old.

 

Media Considerations 

The rate of increase in total video viewing time flattens in Wave V, with an average of more than 9 hours per day.  It is understood that the audience’s video viewing time has reached its plateau.

Given the limited time, the competition between video platforms, including video viewing in social media, will become more intense, and it will be harder to catch eyeballs.  With increased competition providing the right content to the attract audience is more critical than ever.

 

For Platform Owners

With the growing competition in mind, how can a platform stand out?

  • More videos more viewers – Audiences have preferred platform choices for certain type of video content. Look to broaden the variety of video content or launch a new platform to expand and grow your audiences
  • Make Video Viewing pleasurable – Consider how advertising fits within the overall viewer experience. E.g. 5-10 seconds, placement, branded video, live video streaming etc.

 

For Advertisers

What shall a brand do to make sure the ad can effectively reach the target audience and deliver the messages?

  • Understand and use the right platforms – With multiple and different features offered on platforms make sure you are utilizing the right features that will resonate with the audience you are trying to capture.
  • Create the right content – Consider the right style of advertising content to grab your audience’s attention, keeping in mind they are across multiple platforms and the unique characteristics of the platforms. Avoid repeated messaging.

 

For any inquiries on this study and its findings, please contact:
Alana Zervos – Marketing Communications & New Business Manager at Omnicom Media Group Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]

Nicole Cheng – Insight Director at Omnicom Media Group Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]

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