The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), an Asian media trade organisation, has released a new research study, titled ‘Premium OTT – Building its Rightful Place in the Digital Market’, to understand the usage of different video services in Singapore and attitudes towards them.

The independent research study conducted by Milieu Insight was unveiled to agencies, advertisers and brands at AVIA’s first OTT Upfront Showcase where two of the region’s top premium video services, iQIYI and Viu, presented previews and highlights of their upcoming slate of content to the audience at a closed-door event.

The research, according to a press release issued by AVIA on Monday, shows that premium OTT streaming services (OTT) are clearly differentiated from videos viewed on social media or video sharing sites.

OTT was highly valued by consumers in Singapore for having the highest quality content. Fifty-eight percent of respondents indicated that they felt premium OTT services had high quality content, compared to only 36 percent for social media and video sharing services. Similarly, when asked which video services they generally felt captured the highest levels of attention while watching, 49 percent of respondents selected OTT streaming services, compared to only 35 percent who selected social media and video sharing services.

Levels of engagement were also entirely different with 51 percent of people feeling immersed when watching OTT content as opposed to only 39 percent for social media & video sharing. Top emotions elicited when watching OTT were happiness and amusement, whereas for social media and video sharing, the top emotion was “nothing”.

When looking at the impact of advertising, linear television remains the place where it is most noticed (76%) and ads are thought to be the highest quality (41%), although it is in social media where ads feel most intrusive (37%). Linear was again the winner when it came to prompting brand or product searches (25%) and prompting purchase (19%).

AVIA CEO Louis Boswell commented that this “bodes well for the OTT industry. There is a clear link between linear television and OTT from a content perspective, and with more OTT services looking at advertising, I strongly suspect it is simply a matter of time before the effectiveness of ads on OTT matches that of linear television.”

Dinesh Ratnam, Country Manager, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, iQIYI International, said, “AVIA’s research further cements the rise of OTT and the appreciation for the premium content on OTT platforms. As the OTT industry continues evolving and becoming more accessible, its audience is also looking for more diverse content.

“With the global success of shows such as iQIYI’s original costume drama Story of Yanxi Palace drawing a global audience larger than that of Game of Thrones, the rise of Asian content is also drawing in larger, more diverse audiences. We are thrilled to be a part of AVIA’s inaugural OTT Upfront Showcase in Singapore and to have the opportunity to showcase our exciting slate to advertisers and partners.”

The OTT Upfront Showcase was supported by AVIA members Magnite, PubMatic, The Trade Desk and Xandr, while the research was backed by Index Exchange.

 The sample size was n=1200 and was representative of the Singapore adult population aged 16+. Premium OTT services listed in the study were as follows: Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Go, iQIYI, meWATCH, Netflix, Singtel Cast, StarHub TV+, Viu and WeTV. Social media and video sharing services that were listed included Daily Motion, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, Twitter, Vimeo, WhatsApp and YouTube, the release stated.