The survey showed that the US has more online video watchers, and they watch more regularly. The proportion of internet users who strongly agree online video services are the main way they watch TV and film is 16% in the US and 10% in Europe, and online video was the main way of viewing for more than two-fifths of US internet users. But even though the US online video market is considerably larger, it is also more mature and the analyst found that growth has stalled. It was a different story across the Atlantic where slow growth is continuing.

Despite the lack of growth, Ampere found that the access vectors of US online video were more diverse than with their European counterparts with US internet users more likely to watch online video across a range of devices. Two-thirds of US online video users accessed services through a smart TV compared with 61% in Europe. For smartphones, this was 61%/54% and for tablets 43%/40%.

People in the US were found to be more likely to watch online video on a daily basis, particularly on a smart TV while nearly a third of US internet users watch video on their smartphone every day. In Q3 2017 30% of US internet users watched video on their smartphone daily, compared with 21% in Europe.

Commenting on the findings, Ampere Analysis senior analyst Daniel Gadher said: “The number of global households with subscription streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) services continues to grow. In fact, SVOD is becoming the main way many people enjoy movie and TV content in a relatively short space of time. As operators work hard to expand the viewing choices by investing in high quality content, this trend will only expand.”