UK Digital Video and TV 2018

Marketers’ Focus Turns to Quality and Long-Form Content

Consumers in the UK are watching more digital video content than ever before. What they’re watching is changing, though, with long-form becoming increasingly important—something that marketers have noted with interest.

  • Traditional broadcast TV remains the most common type of video content consumption in the UK, but time spent with the medium is declining, while digital video viewing time is on the up. Younger age groups are driving this change.
  • The demise of the television set has been vastly exaggerated. Though mobile video viewing is rising fast, the preponderance of smart TVs and connected TV peripherals, like Chromecast, means the TV set is a central actor in the digital video landscape.
  • A rich and diverse on-demand environment in the UK has helped quality, long-form content maintain a firm foothold, no matter the device used to consume it. Even among younger generations, it isn’t all about short, user-generated content.
  • Digital video ad spend has grown rapidly alongside these advanced consumer habits. However, following some of the high-profile missteps seen on YouTube last year, something of a recalibration is underway. Marketers are keener than ever to be associated with quality, long-form content, while user-generated environments are being approached with caution.
  • The future of video advertising in the UK may lie somewhere between the worlds of traditional TV and hypertargeted digital.

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10expert perspectives

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Table of Contents

  1. The Digital Video Viewer Breakdown: Who’s Watching?
  2. Device Trends: Smartphone Viewing on the Rise, but so Is Big Screen Usage
  3. Platform and Content Trends: The Rise of Quality, Long-Form Video
  1. Marketer Trends: Putting Quality Before Quantity
  2. Key Takeaways
  3. Insider Intelligence Interviews
  1. Related eMarketer Reports
  2. Related Links
  3. Media Gallery

Charts in This Report

Interviewed for This Report

Rich Astley
Finecast
Chief Products Officer
Interviewed April 6, 2018
Thomas Bremond
FreeWheel, a Comcast Company
General Manager, International
Interviewed April 5, 2018
Dylan Collins
SuperAwesome
CEO
Interviewed April 4, 2018
Liz Duff
Total Media
Head of Media and Investment
Interviewed March 29, 2018
Andy Evans
Sovrn
CMO
Interviewed November 3, 2017
Barney Farmer
Nielsen
UK Commercial Director
Interviewed April 9, 2018
Dan Larden
Infectious Media
Global Strategic Partnerships Director
Interviewed November 8, 2017
Jonathan Lewis
Teads
Head of Teads Studio, EMEA
Interviewed April 5, 2018
Richard Neil
MC&C
Director, AV
Interviewed April 6, 2018
Chris Welsh
MPP Global Solutions
Vice President, TV and Sports, EMEA
Interviewed April 9, 2018

authors

Bill Fisher

Contributors

Sean Creamer
Reporter
Angela Kim
Senior Researcher
Oscar Orozco
Director, Forecasting