Singaporeans are watching, on average, eight hours and 13 minutes of online video content each week, according to a report by Limelight Networks, a leading provider of edge cloud services.
Though a small country with approximately 5.6 million people, the time spent on video content was much higher than the global average of six hours, 45 minutes weekly.
Senior Director, Southeast Asia and India, at Limelight Networks, Jaheer Abbas said:
“Singaporean viewers are very savvy when it comes to exploring online mediums, especially for their entertainment needs. We expect this trend to continue in the coming years, especially in the area of growing video-on-demand adoption. Yet, service providers should be aware that factors such as price and quality have a strong influence on viewers.”
In the State of Online Video 2018 research report, Singaporeans also shared their most frustrating aspects of watching online video.
Rebuffering is one of those aspects with 59 per cent of them “reporting that they would stop watching a video if it rebuffers twice.” Another is poor video quality, standing at 32 per cent.
Jaheer added that service providers need to address issues about latency and quality, at competitive pricing, to gain more online viewers.
Additional insights from the report include:
- Singaporeans are still relatively new in the adoption of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. While more than half (59 per cent) of worldwide consumers subscribe to at least one video-on-demand (VOD) service, over 51 per cent of Singaporeans do not own a single subscription. On average, Singaporeans subscribe to 0.7 SVOD services, below the global average of 1.0.
- Singaporeans remain price-sensitive and will cancel services due to price increases. 63 per cent of Singaporean respondents said that price is the reason why they would cancel an SVOD service. This is second to only Italy (70 per cent) and exceeds the global average (55 per cent).
- They are also tolerant of advertising in online videos. Most Singaporeans (87 per cent) are not opposed to a short advertisement before an online video if the content they are viewing is free. Singaporeans are less accepting of mid-roll ads in free content, with only 24 per cent willing to accept multiple advertisements during a longer video if the content is free.
- Binge-watching of video content is on the rise. Global viewers binge-watch shows for an average of two hours, seven minutes. This is slightly higher in Singapore (two hours, 17 minutes), with most Singaporeans spending an average of one to three hours binge-watching on their favourite shows. Binge-watching is highest among younger viewers, with those 18-25 watching an average of almost three hours at a time, while those over 60 watches for just over an hour.
- Online viewing ranges widely by country. Viewers in the Philippines watch the most online video at eight hours, 46 minutes each week, followed closely by India and the United States at nearly eight and a half hours of viewing each week. Singapore’s average of eight hours, 13 minutes comes close to this, while Germany has the lowest online video viewership rate at five hours, two minutes.
The State of Online Video report is based on responses from 5,000 consumers in France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States age 18 and older who watch one hour or more of online video content each week. The full report is available here.
