Over The Top (OTT) services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Spotify are becoming increasingly popular across the globe and have become a mainstream way to reach consumers.
Whether you’re an entertainer, educator, or entrepreneur, the OTT industry presents a great opportunity. And staying informed on the most recent OTT statistics is crucial.
It can ultimately help you make smarter business decisions and stay up-to-date on this ever-evolving technology and its trends.
Now, let’s get into the most up-to-date OTT statistics you need to know.
OTT Market Outlook Statistics
Let’s begin with OTT market outlook statistics to give you a feel for where the market is currently sitting.
Two of the biggest OTT market drivers are the developing media and entertainment industry and the growing usage of smart computing devices globally.
As a result, more OTT consumption is significantly driving consumer demand and accelerating the OTT market growth.
- The global OTT market was valued at $171.36 billion in 2020 and is projected to be worth $1.04 trillion in 2027. That’s a CAGR of 29.4%.
The OTT market saw massive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, led primarily by the use of digital communication platforms and the consumption of entertainment content online.
- The OTT video market is estimated to be worth $178 billion in 2021 and grow annually by 9.72% to reach $297.9 billion in 2026.
- Video advertising is the most significant segment within OTT video, with an estimated volume of $92.3 billion in 2021.
- The next most significant contributor is video streaming, with an estimated market size of $70.8 billion in 2021.
- The number of users in the OTT video segment is expected to increase to 3.9 billion by 2026.
- The average revenue per user in the OTT video segment is projected to be $62.65 in 2022.
- Overall, the average OTT user penetration will be 43.1% in 2022 and grow to 49.9% by 2026.
- Among all countries, the USA will generate $87.26 billion in 2022, making it the leading OTT revenue generator in the world.
- To put things in perspective, China’s OTT market is expected to reach a market value of $27.9 billion in 2026, which is not even half of the USA’s size in 2022.
- 98% of Americans subscribe to at least one streaming media service, while 75% subscribe to two or more services.
OTT Platforms Market Share
Do you wonder which OTT platforms are the most popular? Here are some stats on the leading apps in the OTT industry.
- The largest SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) revenue in 2021 was Netflix, with 30.8% of all OTT subscription revenues in the US.
- The US’s second-largest SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) revenue in 2021 was Disney, which got 25.9% of the entire market.
- Netflix and Tencent (non-gaming apps) were the second and third most popular subscription apps in 2019.
- In Q3 of 2020, it came down to the top five key market players in the video streaming space. Netflix was the most popular with a 25% share, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 21%, Hulu with 15%, HBO Max with 9%, and Disney+ with 6%.
- While Netflix had the most subscribers at the end of 2021 (222 million subscribers), Disney—which also owns Hulu and ESPN—has grown at an aggressive pace with 179 million subscribers across the three video streaming apps.
- In 2024, Disney+ is planning to double the number of countries it’s available in, helping it grow even more.
- When it comes to free streaming, the most popular platform is YouTube, with 150 million American adult viewers.
- YouTube subscriptions accounted for 13.2% of OTT subscription revenue in 2021.
- YouTube Premium and Youtube Music subscribers totaled 50 million in 2021.
- Transactional video on demand (TVOD) streaming increased from 10.9% to 13.3% of streamed video content in the USA between Q2 and Q3 of 2021.
OTT Device Choice Statistics
Which devices people use say a lot about the OTT industry and where creators should be focusing their energy. For example, while smartphones have become enormously popular for YouTube video streaming, TV is the most popular way to stream OTT content.
- There are 6.64 billion smartphones globally capable of running apps, with 83.96% of the world’s population owning one.
- Android has a 69.7% market share, making it the most popular device worldwide. On the other hand, Apple iOS has a global share of 29.51%.
- While Android is more popular globally, Apple dominates the market share in North America with a 56% market share, compared to Android’s 43.66%.
- On the other hand, in South America, Android usage stands at a whopping 88%.
- Between 2020 and 2021, smart TVs saw the most considerable growth in viewing time (up by 115%).
- During the same period, tablets saw an increase of 43%, desktops 38%, and mobile phones 29%.
- Between 2017 and 2019, Indian consumers increased their media consumption on smartphones to 80%, more than any other country in the world.
- About 82% of British citizens own a smartphone, while 63% have a tablet, and 41% have a gaming console.
- Video streaming on mobile apps amounted to 240 billion hours worldwide in Q4 2020.
- The average person consuming OTT has three different devices and three different apps for content consumption.
- Since the pandemic started in 2020, 70% of people have used their smartphones more often.
OTT Video Advertising Statistics
Where’s all the money going? OTT advertising is a huge industry. Whether you want to market your products or use ads in your OTT channels, this section should give you insight into how your ads will perform.
- Ad revenue for OTT advertising will be around $162.2 billion by 2026, totaling 58% of all OTT revenues.
- Advert impressions were up 13% during streamed video content in Q1 of 2021.
- Programmatic impressions of marketing campaigns saw a 207% increase on connected TVs in the USA.
- OTT ads can be effective, so much so that 66% of people who watch OTT discover a new product or company through it.
- 65% of people who own a second screen used it to look up a product from an ad while streaming their OTT.
- While streaming OTT, 40% of people have paused their program to research or purchase what was advertised.
- Ads are so strong on OTT that 72% of viewers could remember a specific advertisement.
- Regarding UX, most viewers prefer to watch ads than pay for a subscription. 25% of OTT viewers can handle ten minutes of advertising for free OTT streaming.
- 42% of marketing professionals and agencies planned to increase their OTT ad spending in 2021.
- 60% of traditional TV budgets will be given to OTT streaming when advertising agencies increase OTT ad spending.
- In 2021, the leading Asian markets for OTT advertising were Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia.
- 2019 presented a 330% growth in ad transcriptions from OTT platforms.
- Streaming on OTT TV counted for 40% of the total advertising video impressions in 2020.
OTT Live Streaming Statistics
Live streams have become a preferred way to consume OTT video content across the globe. They allow creators to show what they’re actively doing, engage their audiences, and build a stronger connection with viewers.
- In Q1 of 2021, live streaming accounted for 24% of global OTT viewing, seeing a growth of 14% just from the previous quarter.
- 28% more people have been watching live videos since the pandemic began.
- In the UK, the famous broadcaster, BBC, had the most minutes of live-streamed content in 2021, with 220 million minutes just in the first week.
- Live stream video content is most popular among millennials. 15% say they watch live-stream content more than once per day, 8% of 35-54-year-olds do the same, while only 3% of 55+ olds consume it.
- The top three categories of most-watched OTT live video content in the US are breaking news (26%), comedy (25%), and how-to tutorial videos (21%).
- Between March and August of 2020, live-streaming for the health and fitness niche was up by 1,300%.
- Other live-streaming niches that grew enormously during the beginning of the pandemic were online learning (980% increase) and yoga and meditation (392% increase).
- At a global level, 12% of people frequently watch live streams of sporting events.
- In 2020, the most-watched music live stream in the world was Wacken World Wide, with 11 million views.
- Between March 2019 and March 2020, live streaming on YouTube reached a 250% increase.
- YouTube had the most OTT streaming hours in 2020 with 100 billion hours of live-stream.
- Most of these hours were made up of live-stream gaming watched on YouTube across 40 million gaming channels.
- Twitch saw 2.3 billion hours of live video content streaming in May 2021.
- Other than gaming, in February 2020, 32% of people in the US were interested in watching the live streams of award ceremonies like the Oscars and Golden Globes.
Consumer Behavior Statistics
Without knowing key consumer behavior trends, deciding which device to stream on, where to show ads, etc., would be like taking a shot in the dark. However, since consumers are spending so much time on OTT, we can now see their behaviors clearly.
- The average consumer consumes approximately 38 hours of videos of mobile apps each month, totaling almost a whole work week.
- In 2021, almost half of the population (45%) watched more on-demand OTT services compared to 2020.
- In 2021, it was expected that consumers would download 85% more digital video streaming service apps in the US and 80% more in South Korea.
- In 2021, US Android users spent the most time on the Disney+ video streaming app, which is more than any other country.
- In the same year, in China, the most popular app in terms of time spent was Bilibili.
- OTT publisher social media accounts received a 24% increase in engagement in 2021.
- During the pandemic, OTT across social media apps grew. For instance, TikTok saw a 14% increase in digital video streamers, while streaming platforms like Netflix saw a 51% increase.
- Streaming video on social media was the most popular for 30% of people during the pandemic.
- While consumers prefer to view OTT on a TV, the second preferred option is to stream through mobile devices and desktops, making up 11% of viewing hours.
- On average, consumers spend 4.2 hours per day on mobile devices.
There you have it: the top 68 OTT statistics for 2022. As recent trends show, and with growing technology, the OTT industry is only getting stronger. It’s a great time to start using OTT in your marketing or video content strategies. We hope this list of statistics helps you make smarter decisions that lead to long-term success.
If you’re planning on building your own OTT platform, you don’t need to start from scratch. Instead, you can use a platform like Uscreen, which allows you to build your own mobile and TV apps. We’ve created a Uscreen review so you can see if it’s right for you.