Global Digital Video 2019

Executive Summary

Digital video audiences are increasing worldwide. Monetization strategies will diversify as more viewers flock to paid platforms, and the other pillar of monetization—i.e., ad spending—will also grow, at least in the US, UK, China and Canada.

Which region has the highest number of digital video viewers, and which region will experience the highest growth?

Asia-Pacific will take first place for both metrics. At 1.43 billion digital video viewers, this region is nearly five times the size of the next-largest area by viewers, which is Latin America. And Asia-Pacific’s growth will exceed the worldwide average through 2023. Similar dynamics are at play in mobile video.

Is digital video ad spending growing accordingly?

In many markets, video ad spending will grow significantly faster than viewers. The US will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8% in video ad spending from 2019 through 2023, while rates in the UK, China and Canada will be higher.

How will the growth in video ad spending affect TV advertising?

Zenith projects that global display ad spending—which includes video and social media—will overtake TV as the largest component of ad spending by 2021.

What are the most thriving parts of the digital video ecosystem?

Subscription OTT is growing at a fast pace throughout the world, led mostly by Netflix, the market leader in virtually every country it serves.

With Netflix, YouTube and Facebook banned in China, what does that country’s video market look like?

Viewership, subscription OTT adoption and ad spending are thriving on the strength of the country’s trio of tech titans with robust digital and mobile video operations: Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, (aka “BAT”). Douyin, the Chinese short-video app known in the rest of the world as TikTok, is a growing phenomenon.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report covers key events in major digital video markets throughout the world, based on our forecasts, third-party data, trends and business activity.

KEY STAT: By 2023, when the US Census Bureau estimates the world’s population will near 8 billion for the first time, over 39% of earthlings will be digital video viewers. That’s up from about 35% in 2019.