Goodbye cable? Online video consumption increases by massive 43%

You, me and virtually everyone else on the internet watching fail videos, Gangnam Style and series like The Walking Dead and Orange is the New Black, have watched more than 38.2-billion videos in the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 43% year-on-year (YOY). That’s according to a recent study done by Adobe Software.

As noted by VentureBeat, the study scooped up data from over 1 300 media and entertainment properties, including virtually all major ones in the US.

From set-top boxes like Roku, Apple TV to our computers and consoles like the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the most popular medium today is smart devices. More specifically, iOS devices. According to the report, a massive 51% of all content was consumed using an iPhone or one of Apple’s tablets. Android is showing growth but sits behind iOS at 20%.

Desktop — specifically browser-based — access has shrunk by a massive 41% YOY while gaming consoles’ popularity has increased by 194% YOY. The latter finding is most likely due to the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One this time last year.

As you might imagine, Adobe found that viewer behavior is changing from casual viewing to binge consumption, streaming multiple episodes in one session.

Just last week, popular broadcaster responsible for shows like Game of Thrones and True Detective announced that it’s finally considering to launch a stand-alone online streaming hub, separated from its cable service. Netflix — the popular streaming service at the vanguard of video-on-demand — on the other hand, saw its shares drop recently after “disappointing user growth“.

In the last year or so, South African companies have started looking for a gap in the market with services like DStv’s BoxOffice, Times Media Live’s Vidi and the Altech Node.