TV Shows, Social Networks Fuel Online Video Growth

2 Oct, 2008 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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The increased availability of network television programming, movies and user-generated content has resulted in nearly double (63%) the number of online video viewers compared to last year (32%), according to a new report.

Based on a survey of online households, ABI Research found that ad-supported programming, videos on social networking sites YouTube and MySpace, and overall demand for short-and-long form video content has increased.

“Consumers are changing their online habits quickly,” says research director Michael Wolf. “Broadband speeds have continued to increase at the same time that Hollywood has decided online distribution is a legitimate monetization opportunity that will increase total return on their video assets, and expand audiences.”

Last month, ComScore Video Metrix, a Reston, Va.-based research firm, said Google popular social video site, YouTube, represented 44% of the online video market in July, generating more than 5 billion largely user-generated videos watched.

The ABI study appeared to suggest that online video consumption remains the fancy of youth.

It found that nearly 50% of respondents under age of 25 and 53% ages 25 to 29 said they watched online TV shows or movies once a month or more. Conversely, about 75% of respondents older than 65 said they never watched TV shows or movies online.

“Today’s younger consumers are developing habits that will mean drastic changes for the video entertainment market,” Wolf said. “Many consume a large percentage or even a majority of their video entertainment through online distribution today, and we believe that this trend will continue to accelerate as more efforts are made to put this content on various non-PC screens.”

 

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