China online video advertising market gets a boost from smart TVs
With mainlanders taking to online videos on internet-enabled screens, ad spending in the segment is tipped to top US$2b this year
The growing demand for internet-linked "smart" television on the mainland is poised to help drive greater advertising spending in the country's online video market, analysts say.
"Consumers on the mainland are increasingly spending more time watching online videos. Smart TVs are now providing them with a better online viewing experience, which is encouraging marketers to spend more advertising money on this media segment," Wang Xiaofeng, a Beijing-based analyst at Forrester Research, said yesterday.
Forrester estimates that online video advertisers on the mainland will increase spending by about 50 per cent to US$2.1 billion this year, up from US$1.4 billion last year, as more domestic consumers favour advertising-supported online content over traditional television pay-per-view content. There are currently about 450 million regular online video users on the mainland.
As an internet-connected device, like a smartphone, smart televisions deliver computing capabilities which regular household televisions do not. These include internet browsing, digital media streaming and the downloading of software applications, such as games, over the internet.
Wang said: "Marketers in China have also been shifting their advertising budget from traditional TV services to online video due to regulations that limit TV ads … and the lower cost of online video ads."