In contrast to subscription and transactional video-on-demand, BVOD services are usually free of charge, often in exchange for watching advertisements. BVOD is still a nascent but rising market in Europe, especially in Ireland, Malta, and Sweden, where about one in three members of the population tend to watch television via the internet. Additionally, the UK is also home to many online TV platforms provided by broadcasters and has reported small increases in consumption in recent years, with BBC’s iPlayer being the most popular BVOD service.
Most used BVOD devices
According to a survey from March 2022, 60 percent of connected TV (CTV) users in selected European countries were watching content on broadcasters’ online video platforms. This marks a growth of nearly 13 percent compared to the previous year. This increasing popularity is driven by the opportunity to watch the professionally produced video content through smart TVs and CTVs. In the UK for instance, the penetration rate of smart TVs was 67 percent in 2021, six times as much as in 2014. Consumers were also embracing mobile devices for streaming broadcasts – in France, the smartphone is the most popular device to watch online TV, and while the use of computers and traditional television sets in the country overall declined from 2018 to 2021, mobile devices, including tablets, are becoming increasingly important for BVOD viewers.Linear vs. online TV
Although BVOD revenues in the EU steadily rose between 2015 and 2020, the option is still only an addition to linear TV for consumers, not a replacement. A survey conducted in Denmark, for instance, found that linear TV stations are more popular than their corresponding online versions as of 2021. The same trend can be observed in the European advertising industry. BVOD revenue still only accounts for a small part of total TV ad revenue, with UK network ITV holding the highest market share in this segment. However, the market is predicted to play a more important role in the future due to the increased consumption of online television services.
