Study: Mobile Viewing Tops 200 Hours a Year

Here’s another big, round figure to link the continuing shift toward mobile viewing: 200.

That’s the number of hours per year, on average, people spend viewing video on mobile devices, according to a new study from Ericsson.

The study — the ConsumerLab TV & Media Report—also found that the weekly share of time spent watching TV and other forms of video on mobile devices has surged 85% in the last six years.

But mobile viewing is helping to expand to overall viewing pie. The study, based on 30,000 interviews collected from individuals in 24 countries, said mobile usage has driven overall TV and video viewing up by an additional 1.5 hours per week. However, that same rise has spurred a decline in “fixed screen” viewing of 2.5 hours per week.

This mobile viewing climb has made consumers more sensitive about data usage. With an apparent nod to optional zero-rated services like T-Mobile’s “Binge On” offering, 40% said they are “very interested” in mobile data plans that include unrestricted video streaming.

The study also shines the light on increasingly popular VOD services, as total viewing time of on-demand content has jumped 50% since 2010. Notably, 37% embrace binge-watching, defined as watching two or more episodes of the same show in a row on a weekly basis. More than one-fifth of those surveyed said they binge-view on a daily basis.