Average watch time: 4 hours per day. Sounds great. The truth: 10 customers watched 10 hours. 90 customers watched 2 hours. The average is 4. The average lies.
Your IPTV panel's average watch time hides the distribution. A small number of heavy watchers can inflate the average. Most customers might be barely watching. The reseller who celebrates the average is celebrating the wrong number. The reseller who looks at the median knows the truth.
Here's the thing – I've seen IPTV reseller operators celebrate "high watch time" while their median watch time was declining. Their heavy watchers were keeping the average up. Their typical customer was watching less. Churn was coming. The average hid the warning.
For an IPTV reseller UK, the median watch time is your truth. Half your customers watch more than the median. Half watch less. The median doesn't lie. Your IPTV panel can calculate it. Most resellers never run the report.
What actually works is a "watch time distribution" report monthly. Export watch time per user. Sort ascending. Find the 50th percentile (median). Track it over time. If median drops, something is wrong. Fix it before average drops.
A real-world scenario: a reseller's average watch time was steady at 4 hours. He checked the median. It had dropped from 3 hours to 2 hours over 6 months. His typical customer was watching less. He investigated. His EPG was broken for popular channels. He fixed it. Median recovered.
Most operators find that the IPTV reseller UK operators with the best retention watch the median. Their IPTV panel shows the truth. The average is a lie.
Honestly, calculate your median watch time right now. Compare to 3 months ago. The trend will tell you more than the average.