Vimeo reveals OTT stats

Vimeo’s white label OTT platform now has 3.6 million subscribers across hundreds of services, with more than half of users watching videos via Vimeo-powered apps, according to the video platform provider.

Vimeo’s ‘2018 OTT Revolution’ report looked at the viewing patterns of subscribers on the Vimeo OTT platform – a solution that lets Vimeo customers launch their own cross-platform SVOD services – and found that apps drive sign-ups and different length videos get varying levels of engagement.

Vimeo said that OTT subscribers collectively spend about 10,823 hours a day watching video on their apps and noted a “growing appetite to consume content on various screens in different ways”.

It said that although apps account for just about a third of Vimeo OTT’s subscriptions, more than 50% of subscribers watch videos on apps, and claimed that apps can grow audiences and reduce churn.

“If you’re offering a free trial, having an app can help increase your customer conversion rate. People are 33% more likely to sign up for a free trial via an app then they are on the web. Vimeo OTT customers have seen up to a 72% conversion on these platforms,” according to the report.

Vimeo said that Vimeo-powered TV apps get higher engagement rates via services with long-form content like MHz Choice and Love Nature. On the other hand, services with short-form content, like Yoga with Adriene, were more popular on mobile devices.

Across Vimeo OTT, stats show that on average a 30-minute video had a completion rate of about 80% while a two-hour video had an average completion rate of 65%. Vimeo advised users to tailor the length of video content to the app on which it will live – mobile apps for shorter content, TV apps for longer content.

“Vimeo empowers creators to be everywhere at once, providing live and other immersive experiences to engage with their audience,” said Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud.

“As the SVOD market continues to explode, consumer expectations and the tyranny of choice will rise in turn. Creators will need to be ready to meet this demand with quality content and dependable technology.”

Vimeo acquired streaming video platform VHX in 2016 to move into the subscription video-on-demand space, and later renamed the business Vimeo OTT.

The Vimeo OTT offering is targeted at individual creators, niche programmers and major media partners who can use it to launch subscription video services across platforms like iOS, Android, Fire TV, Roku, Android TV, Xbox and tvOS.

Vimeo analysed 1.3 billion consumer data points on the Vimeo OTT platform to produce the report, which can be accessed in full here.