OTT Usage Rate Reaches 52%... 'YouTube' Is the Most Watched

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The usage rate of Over-The-Top (OTT) video streaming services increased to 52% last year, up from 42.7% the previous year. The trend shows a steady annual increase in OTT usage.

According to the '2019 Broadcasting Media Usage Survey' released by the Korea Communications Commission on the 30th, the OTT services used for viewing were YouTube (47.8%), Facebook (9.9%), Naver (6.1%), and Netflix (4.9%), in that order.

The frequency of watching OTT at least once a week also rose from 88.8% to 95.5%. The most commonly used devices for OTT viewing were smartphones (91.6%), followed by TV sets (5.4%) and laptops (5.2%). The dominant location for OTT usage during both weekdays and weekends was overwhelmingly at home.

The Korea Communications Commission highlighted the main features of the survey results as ▲the spread of personalized media usage ▲the rising importance of smartphones and declining importance of TV ▲the increase in OTT usage rates.

The overall smartphone ownership rate, representing personalized media usage, increased from 89.4% in 2018 to 91.1% last year. Ownership rates among those in their 60s and those aged 70 and above rose to 85.4% and 39.7%, respectively, compared to the previous year (80.3%, 37.8%).

The importance of smartphones, which have emerged as an essential medium, was 63%, nearly twice that of TV (32.3%).

The proportion of people choosing smartphones as an essential medium was highest among teenagers (87%), followed by those in their 40s (71.9%), 50s (57.1%), and 60s (33.3%), indicating the influence of smartphones spreading to older age groups.

Among TV viewers, 55% also used smartphones simultaneously. PCs accounted for 6.4% and tablet PCs 3.1%.

This Korea Communications Commission survey was conducted through household visits and face-to-face interviews from June 3 to August 9, 2019, targeting 6,375 men and women aged 13 and older living in 3,945 households nationwide (sampling error: ±2.7%p for household survey and ±2.4%p for individual survey at 95% confidence level).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.