The average viewer will watch 100 minutes of online video per day in 2021

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The average person will spend 100 minutes each day watching online video in 2021, claims a new report.

According to the Online Video Forecasts 2019 report from media agency Zenith, this figure is up from 84 minutes this year, and will be the equivalent of watching 25 continuous days of video over the course of the year.

Average online video viewing consumption has risen at an average rate of 32% a year between 2013-18, coinciding with a variety of factors such as faster mobile data connections, improvements in display sizes and the spread of smart TVs.

Already in China and Sweden viewers are watching 103 minutes of online video per day on average, with Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the USA expected to join the list by 2021.

China and Sweden have the keenest online video viewers, with the average person in each country expected to spend 103 minutes a day watching online video this year. These are the only countries where online video viewing exceeds 100 minutes a day, but by 2021, Zenith expects Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the USA to join the list.

The firm also predicts that advertising expenditure on online video will rise from US$45 billion this year to US$61 billion by 2021, at an average rate of 18% a year, compared to 10% a year for internet advertising as a whole.

By contrast, traditional TV adspend will shrink from US$183bn to US$180bn over the same period

Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at Zenith said: “The consumption of online video is growing rapidly, and the average person will spend half as much time viewing online video as they spend viewing conventional television this year. This fast-expanding supply of audiences is fuelling rapid growth in demand from advertisers, making online video the fastest-growing digital channel by advertising expenditure.”

Matt James, global brand president at Zenith added: “Online video has boosted the amount of time that consumers spend watching audio visual content and is amplifying advertisers’ ability to reach consumers with high-impact brand-building ads.

“The growth in serving ads to consumers via connected television sets will be a huge contributor to the growth of this format in the coming years, and it will help to bring attribution back to TV advertising.”