After nearly two years of explosive growth, streaming adoption has slowed, showing just a 1% increase in North America in the final quarter of 2021, according to the “Q4 2021 State of Streaming” report from Conviva, a continuous measurement platform for streaming media. The report adds that connected TV devices lost some of their share of streaming viewing for the first time, down 2% globally year-over-year.
Similarly, companies with a strong hold in connected devices saw moderate growth – or even losses – in quarter four [Q4] of 2021, with Roku growing just 12% and Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV losing share of viewing time at -7% and -1%, respectively. Conversely, smart TVs experienced a significant 37% increase in streaming viewing time year-over-year. Specifically, Android TV grew 42% in viewing time as compared to Q4 2021 with LG TV (36%) and Samsung TV (27%) not far behind.
“Like many other industries, streaming adoption spiked during the pandemic, as people spent more time at home and continually sought the fresh, creative content delivered by streaming publishers,” says Keith Zubchevich, President & CEO, Conviva. “Fortunately, like sweatpants and sourdough, streaming is holding on to the enormous growth it saw over the past eight quarters. The growth rate may be slowing, but the streaming industry is now well established and unlikely to ever go back to pre-pandemic levels.”
