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December 29, 2008
More Online Than TV Viewing
By Gary Kim, Contributing Editor
Consumers now spend more time with online media online than they do watching television, say researchers at the Yankee Group. Of course, since they appear to be multitasking, the level of engagement would seem to be dropping as well.
In fact, 56 percent of television viewers are online, browsing the Web or sending e-mail while "watching" television, Yankee Group (News - Alert) researchers say. And though some observers "hope" or "expect" user-generated content to assume a more prominent role over time, professionally-produced content remains the constant across digital platforms ranging from television, Internet video, mobile video to portable video. Users are consuming in more personalized ways, but most of what they consume consists of movies, clips of television shows, movie trailers and music videos.
At the same time, Internet video is emerging as the key platform for the delivery of on-demand video services. That obviously is of key importance for Internet service providers, access and transport providers as it suggests a huge increase in bandwidth demand is coming.
One would think digital video recorders would dampen demand for online viewing, but it does not appear to be the case. About 82.3 percent of Internet video viewers watch TV shows online because they missed the episode on TV. But even DVR owners are more likely to watch online than they are to record a program in advance.
Some 24.5 percent of the Internet video audience claim they watch either once or several times per day. The average Internet video session lasts 26.5 minutes.
The much-touted mobile video opportunity remains elusive, though. Audiences are small, and users are more likely to watch video on handheld game systems than on their mobile telephones, Yankee Group researchers say.
Even though digital platforms dominate and downloads are increasing, 26.4 percent of respondents indicate that the car stereo is the primary place where they listen to music. This is the most popular platform, surpassing home stereos (24.5 percent) and digital audio players (17.7 percent).
Also, the use of game players to watch DVD content is quite prevalent. Some 57.9 percent of gaming console owners have watched a DVD on their console. They're more likely to do that than they are to play games, Yankee Group researchers indicate.
About 17.9 percent of handheld game system owners report watching videos, with 20.2 percent watching at least once per day for an average of 35.6 minutes per session.
Gary Kim (News - Alert) is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Gary's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
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