Metrics & Analytics
Engagement Rate
Engagement Rate measures how actively users interact with your OTT product over a period. In streaming, it’s commonly expressed as active days per user, sessions per user, or minutes watched per user—depending on your content type and goals.
Habit metric
Retention proxy
Content-sensitive
Cohort dependent
What it means
Engagement rate answers: Are users forming a viewing habit? In OTT, engagement reflects repeat visits, session depth, and watch time that correlate strongly to churn and monetization outcomes.
- Higher engagement usually leads to higher retention.
- Engagement varies by catalog freshness and UX quality.
- Measure engagement separately for new and returning users.
Why it matters
Engagement is the leading indicator for revenue in OTT. If users don’t return frequently, subscriptions churn, ad inventory drops, and conversion windows shrink. Strong engagement signals habit formation and directly impacts retention, ARPU, and lifetime value.
How to calculate
Active Days per User
Active Days per User = Total Active Days / Active Users
Useful for subscription products and habit-driven content.
Sessions per User
Sessions per User = Total Sessions / Active Users
Best for discovery-heavy and micro-content platforms.
Minutes Watched per User
Minutes per User = Total Minutes Watched / Active Users
Strong indicator for AVOD and ad inventory growth.
Directional benchmarks
- News / Sports: higher visit frequency with event-driven spikes.
- Entertainment SVOD: binge behavior around releases.
- Kids content: high minutes watched and repeat plays.
- Micro-drama: very high session frequency but shorter sessions.
Benchmarks depend heavily on catalog freshness, price point, and device mix. Compare cohorts, not the whole base.
Common pitfalls
- Mixing different definitions and calling them all engagement rate.
- Ignoring differences between new and returning users.
- Not adjusting for content release cycles.
- Counting autoplay starts without meaningful viewing intent.
How to improve engagement
Discovery loops
Improve continue watching, personalized rails, and recommendation accuracy so the next play is always obvious.
Return triggers
Use notifications and scheduled drops to pull users back consistently.
Reduce friction
Improve start time, reduce playback errors, simplify login, and minimize paywall friction.
Practical next step
Want a metrics plan for your OTT product?
Track engagement by cohort, content type, and device—then tie improvements to retention and revenue.