• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 25, 2012

The majority of video ads are being delivered within large player environments, according to new research from VideoHub.

More remarkable -- across all player sizes -- is that the viewing quality has been "strong," the video ad platform finds. Nearly 88% of all ads streamed in the first quarter were fully visible to viewers -- much stronger than statistics have indicated for display ads, VideoHub reports.

Of the 3.5 billion video streams analyzed, 7% were partially obstructed, while viewers never saw the remaining 5%.

The report also shows that while dayparts heavily drive ratings for traditional TV audiences, digital experiences flatter viewing patterns. In the first quarter, no hour of day exceeded a 6% share of the total video streams.

“We finally have insight into how TV and digital lines are blurring at increasing rates,” according to Kelly McEttrick, senior director of platform strategy for VideoHub. “The data we’re seeing supports recent claims that concurrent media usage continues to grow, and TV is experiencing a small decrease in time spent for the first time.”

Bigger picture: the future of video doesn’t seem to be about putting TV against digital, but rather allowing the two to evolve simultaneously. “Clients are learning in real-time when and how their ratings are impacting consumers, shifting the way cross-screen video is approached,” according to VideoHub.

However, the company’s research also shows that digital viewing patterns tend to shift when TV seasons are in their prime. In the fourth quarter -- when TV programs hit their season finales -- digital viewership saw a shift toward prime time with the highest streaming between 4 and 9 p.m.

During the first quarter, when most TV series went on hiatus, digital viewership was highest between 12 and 4 p.m.

But as the first quarter progressed and shows premiered, the share of viewers watching during prime time grew. March viewership, meanwhile, saw a shift toward later viewing hours compared to January.

Although digital video sees less frequency swings in tune-in volumes, it does see strong swings in ad performance.

In the first quarter, VideoHub found that daypart, content length, player size and geography heavily impact the performance of in-stream video advertising.

Depending on the creative and the vertical, video advertising appears to be highly sensitive to surrounding variables. In fact, small players outperformed larger players in driving brand lift.

VideoHub found that this result was not directly correlated to size, but that small players tend to be hosted within lean-forward video environments.,