LONDON—The U.S. is not leading the way on mobile video experiences, even as more and more consumers are watching content—including full-length TV shows and movies—on their smartphone and other mobile devices. In fact, the U.S. is not even in the top half of surveyed countries around the world.
Opensignal’s annual “The State of Mobile Video Experience Report” reveals that out of 100 countries, the U.S. ranks 68th in mobile video experience. That ranking comes even as scores from Opensignal’s user tests of Americans’ video experiences increased from 46.7 to 53.8 points. The test is based on an ITU analysis approach considering picture quality, video loading time and stall rate.
While most commonly done on 4G connectivity, Opensignal did not that more people are streaming on the mobile devices using wireless connections (46%) or mobile networks. On mobile networks, 44% of consumers said they experience stuttering or freezing. About 36% say they sometimes switch to Wi-Fi to better stream video and another 30% say that if they experience issues streaming they give up watching.
According to Opensignal, 64% of U.S. consumers watch videos under five minutes in length on their mobile devices. However, more are beginning to watch TV programs or movies on their smartphones as well—39% for TV shows, 38% for movies. Those numbers increase when younger consumers are asked; for those of Gen Z it is as high as 55% for movies, while 52% of millennials say they stream TV shows on their smartphones.
In addition, OTT providers are a popular resource for mobile streaming, with Netflix the most popular (47%), followed by Amazon Prime (38%) and Hulu (25%).
Opensignal has the full report available on its website.
