Last month, we covered
research from Pew Internet & American Life Project showing how video sharing sites were becoming more and more popular. Well, the significant growth of online video usage — particularly in the youth market — has been confirmed by yet more research, this time from
Leichtman Research.
Among other things, the research, based on 1250 US households and carried out in December and January, found that:
- Among all individuals ages 18-34, 42% report that they watch video online at home at least weekly – up from 28% last year
- Among all individuals ages 35 and above, 15% watch video online at home at least weekly – compared to 13% last year
- 9% of those who watch video online strongly agree that they now watch TV less often
- 52% of online video users typically spend ten minutes or less when they view online
- Among all people online, just 4% strongly agree that they would consider disconnecting their TV service to only watch video online
Commenting on the findings, Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst at Leichtman Research, said: “Online video is emerging as a medium unto itself – not necessarily a replication of, or an alternative to, traditional TV viewing. In analyzing the growth of online video, it is important to understand the characteristics of those who are most likely to view video online, and the types of content that are most appealing.”
Meanwhile, stats from global internet information provider,
comScore, also published in February, revealed that US internet users watched more than 10 billion videos online during December 2007, the single heaviest month for online video consumption since comScore initiated its tracking service.
Of course, the reason for the increased popularity of online video is the mass penetration of broadband internet. On this front, according to the latest stats from market analyst,
Nielsen Online, broadband penetration
will break 90% among active internet users by May 2008 (having grown once again in January 2008 by 0.7% to 87.49%).
The use of online video as a way to market to and monetize eyeballs is only set to grow.