Watch Time

Watch time is the total or average amount of time viewers spent watching a video, regardless of whether they finished it.

Average watch time is a more forgiving cousin of completion rate for longer-form content, where finishing isn't the realistic goal for most viewers. A 3-minute product explainer with a 45-second average watch time might be perfectly healthy if the key message lands in the first 30 seconds — completion isn't the bar, message delivery is.