Demographics

Page 3 of 5

Digital Media

U.S. Internet users watched nearly 34 billion videos in May, with Google Sites ranking as the top video property with 14.6 billion videos, representing 43.1% of all videos viewed online. YouTube accounted for the vast majority of videos viewed at the property. Hulu ranked second with 1.2 billion videos, or 3.5% of all online videos viewed. Microsoft Sites ranked third with 642 million (1.9%), followed by Vevo with 430 million (1.3%) and Viacom Digital with 347 million (1.0%).

Nearly 183 million viewers watched an average of 186 videos per viewer during the month of May. Google Sites attracted 144.6 million unique viewers during the month (101.2 videos per viewer), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 46.0 million viewers (7.3 videos per viewer), and Vevo with 45.6 million viewers (9.4 videos per viewer). Vevo jumped one position in the May ranking taking the #3 spot with 45.6 million viewers and an average of 9.4 videos per viewer.

In May, Tremor Media ranked as the top video ad network with a potential reach of 102.8 million viewers, or 56.2% of the total video viewing audience. ScanScout Network ranked second with a potential reach of 99.3 million viewers (54.3% penetration) followed by YuMe Video Network with 87.5 million viewers (47.8%).

The top video ad networks in terms of their actual reach delivered were: Joost Video Network (by Adconion Media Group) with 35.2% penetration of online video viewers, BrightRoll Video Network with 24.4%, and Tremor Media Video Network with 21.2%.  84.8% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video. 144.1 million viewers watched 14.6 billion videos on YouTube.com (101.2 videos per viewer).  The average Hulu viewer watched 27.0 videos, totaling 2.7 hours of video per viewer. The duration of the average online video was 4.3 minutes.

(comScore, June 2010)

Google-owned properties (which includes YouTube) continued to dominate the online video space in the US in January 2010, according to data from comScore. The company's Video Metrix measurement product estimates Google sites accounted for 39.5% of all videos viewed during the course of the month, with its closest competitor Hulu representing just 2.5% of the market by comparison. Hulu's closest competitor by total videos viewed was Microsoft, accounting for a 1.5% share.

In terms of reach, however, Google's dominance wasn't quite as extreme. Yahoo sites, for example, reached over a third of the users achieved by Google during the month, while properties including CBS Interactive and Fox Interactive Media achieved well over a quarter of that number too.

In terms of actual views, Google racked up an average of almost 94 per user over the course of the month. Hulu achieved an average just shy of 24, but much of its content is long-form, compared to the majority of Google's, which is user-generated. (ClickZ, March 2010)

Online video viewers became less likely to click on preroll ads, or watch them to completion, over the course of 2009, according to analysis of video ad network YuMe.  Between Q1 and Q4, click-through rates trended steadily downward, from 1.88% to 0.74%. Completion rates dropped as well, to 66.3% in Q4 from 74.4% in Q1 2009.

Broken down by length of preroll, there was a trade-off. While completion rates were higher for 15-second videos than for 30-second spots, the longer ads received more click-throughs. Additionally, view-to-completion rates fell throughout 2009 for both types of video ad, but rates for the shorter ads dropped more dramatically over the period.

Average click-through rates for the year were almost doubled on longer videos, at 1.5% for 30-second ads versus 0.8% for 15-second prerolls.

YuMe found that video ads targeted to children and teens ages 6 to 14 had the highest video ad click-through rate, at 3.5%, but the lowest rate of viewing to completion. It was the ads targeted at the oldest users (over 35) that were most likely to be watched to the end, at a rate of 77.4%.

Online video analytics and distribution company TubeMogul reported somewhat higher completion rates for 10- to 30-second preroll ads appearing before short-form video clips. Nearly 16% of viewers clicked away rather than watch the ad to completion.  Rates were worse at magazine and newspaper sites, with nearly a quarter of viewers abandoning the video, while just 10.9% clicked away from prerolls in front of video from large broadcasters.

Earlier research has shown that in addition to location and industry, video ad size and creative have a significant effect on success metrics. (eMarketer, February 2010)

Total US online video streams were up 17% year-on-year during the month of November 2009, according to data from Nielsen. However, growth of the medium appears to be slowing, compared with the 41% year-on-year rise the measurement firm reported for August. Growth in unique viewers also slowed from 18% in August, to 11.4% in November.

Compared with August data, YouTube, Yahoo, and Microsoft properties all experienced drops in both unique users and the number of videos they streamed. Hulu, however, grew its user base over the same period, and experienced substantial growth in streams, from 392 million in August to over 656 million in September.

Top online brands ranked by video streams for November 2009:
- YouTube:6,753,100,000 streams / 106,852,000 unique viewers
- Hulu: 656,561,000 / 12,488,000
- Yahoo: 196,603,000 / 24,968,000
- MSN/WindowsLive/Bing: 147,120,000 / 15,345,000
- Fox Interactive Media: 137,185,000 / 12,983,000
- Megavideo: 128,581,000 / 3,633,000
- ABC Television: 125,400,000 / 5,819,000
- ESPN Digital Network: 111,884,000 / 8,922,000
- Blinkx: 108,623,000 / 706,000
- Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network: 106,266,000 / 5,297,000 
(ClickZ, December 2009)

US users streamed 41% more video content in August 2009 than they did during the same period in 2008, according to ComScore. In addition, users are spending more of their time with the medium, with the average time per viewer up almost 39% year-on-year. However, total streams per viewer increased by around 20%, suggesting an increase in consumption of long-form video.

Unsurprisingly, YouTube dominated users' attention, accounting for over 60% of streams during the month. Hulu was its closest rival with just 3.4% of streams, but this figure could be somewhat skewed given the long-form nature of the majority of Hulu's content, compared with YouTube's generally shorter, user-generated offerings.

In terms of reach, however, Hulu lagged behind properties owned by Yahoo, MSN, and Fox Interactive Media, suggesting a relatively small, but engaged user base for the site. (ClickZ, September 2009)

The Nielsen Company reported on overall US online video usage and top online brands ranked by video streams for September 2009.  Year-over-year, unique viewers, total streams, streams per viewer and time per viewer were up, led by 25% growths in total streams and time per viewer.

Overall US online video usage, September 2009:
- Unique viewers: 139,334,000 (+12.3% year-on-year growth)
- Total streams: 11,021,873,000 (+24.8%)
- Streams per viewers: 79.1 (+11.1%)
- Time per viewer: 195.2 minutes (+24.8%)

The top 5 online brands ranked by video streams for September 2009 in the US were YouTube, Hulu, Yahoo!, MSN/WindowsLive/Bing and Fox Interactive Media. (The Nielsen Company, October 2009)

The number of US users viewing video-sharing sites such as YouTube has almost doubled since 2006, according to research by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. The survey, conducted with a sample of 2,253 respondents in April 2009, found that 62% of adult internet users have used video sharing sites, up from the 33% who had done so in December 2006.

Unsurprisingly, user generated video was most popular amongst younger adults, with 89% of users aged 18-29 having consumed such content, and 36% claiming to do so on a typical day. Overall, 19% of respondents said they used video sharing sites on a typical day when asked in 2009, compared with just 8% in 2006. This figure is even higher among broadband users, at 23%.

In addition to user-generated video, more than a third (35%) of users said they had legally watched professionally produced TV or movie content on sites such as YouTube or Hulu. Among that group, 23% said they have connected their computer to a television screen so they could view video from the internet on their TV. That equates to around 8% of respondents overall.

The survey also revealed the use of online video-sharing sites is outranking social networking in terms of popularity, with only 46% of US adult users claiming to be active on sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Recent data from ComScore suggests that UK users are therefore far more engaged with social networks than their US counterparts, with almost 80% of British users logging into social networking services during the month of May. (ClickZ, August 2009)

67% of online Americans have now streamed or downloaded digital video content ("digital video users" as described here), according to recent data from Ipsos MediaCT's MOTION study. While YouTube continues to dominate the short video clip market and iTunes continues to do brisk business via downloads, the streaming of longer running content, such as TV shows and movies, has become more popular due to sites such as Hulu and Netflix.

The growth of Hulu in particular has been rapid - only 9% of digital video users were aware of Hulu in September 2008; today, its awareness is 41%. iTunes also posted growth for digital video during this time frame, and even YouTube keeps extending its impressive reach. At the same time, the visibility of MySpace as a digital video source has dimmed recently.

The increase in usage across multiple sites - and business models - confirms that Americans are watching a greater breadth of digital video than ever before, according to Ipsos MediaCT. As a result, TV and movie studios should continue to embrace online video as another avenue to extend their content properties and reach consumers. Studio support of Hulu clearly illustrates that many executives on the content side have already incorporated online digital media into their strategies.

It is important to note that digital video users watch almost 15 hours of TV on their traditional television per week versus only about two hours on their PC. In most cases, digital video users state a strong preference for viewing content on their televisions. With professionally produced content now available through legitimate online websites, consumers may be poised to adopt technology solutions that facilitate the connected living room so often mentioned in the past. There is a desire to combine the readily available online video content and the preferred viewing platform-the television.

The Ipsos MediaCT's MOTION study concludes that despite the onslaught of video choices online, Americans remain happy with their TVs and HDTVs, especially as TVs grow larger and resolution improves with HDTVs. However, Americans also enjoy the immediate gratification of digital video content accessible online, and creating an easy and affordable way to bridge the gap from online video to the TV would allow consumers to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Data were sourced from the April 2009 wave of Ipsos MediaCT's MOTION study, which was conducted via online interviews among a representative online population aged 12 years and older. (Ipsos, September 2009)

There will be 144 million online video viewers in the US in 2009, growing to 188 million viewers by 2013, according to eMarketer.

US online video viewers, 2008-2013:
- 2008: 135 million (70% of US internet users / 44% of the US population)
- 2009: 144 million (72% / 47%)
- 2010: 154 million (75% / 50%)
- 2011: 165 million (78% / 53%)
- 2012: 177 million (82% / 56%)
- 2013: 188 million (85% / 59%)

eMarketer indicates that the bulk of the current video inventory is sharable through social networks, blogs, microblogs, e-mail and other social platforms. That capability makes every video a potential viral hit and opens opportunities for content distributors and marketers. eMarketer believes that the quality of the content is rising, too and video offerings cater to all age groups and interests. (eMarketer, August 2009)

Through its YouTube property, Google tops online video sites in April 2009 for US audiences, according to comScore. Across all video sites, internet users viewed 16.8 billion online videos in April, an increase of 16% over March. YouTube saw significant increase in video viewing, which contributed to the month-over-month growth.

Google's video use increased 15% over March levels. The search giant served 6.8 billion videos, accounting for a 40.7% online video market share. Across Google, YouTube accounted for more than 99% of all videos viewed on the property.

Top US online video properties by number of videos served and percentage share of videos for April 2009:
Total Internet: 16.8 billion
- Google sites: 6.8 billion (40.7% market share)
- Fox Interactive Media: 513 million (3.1%)
- Hulu: 397 million (2.4%)
- Viacom: 315.2 million (1.9%)
- Microsoft sites: 288.3 million (1.7%)

In a month of record video viewing on Google, nearly 152 million US internet users watched an average 111 videos each. The NBC and Fox property Hulu accounted for 2.4% of videos viewed and just 4.2% of all minutes spent watching online video. The duration of the average online video was 3.5 minutes. (ClickZ, June 2009)

YouTube continued to rank as the No. 1 video Web brand in April 2009 with 5.5 billion total streams in April 2009, according to Nielsen Online. Meanwhile, Hulu continued its explosive growth trajectory, increasing 490% in total streams year-over-year, from 63.2 million in April 2008 to 373.3 million in April 2009, making it the fastest growing brand among the top 10.

Top Online Video Brands Ranked by Total Streams for April 2009, US - Home and Work:
Overall Online Video Usage: 9,452,996,000 streams
1. YouTube: 58.1% share of streams
2. Hulu: 3.9%
3. Yahoo!: 2.2%
4. Fox Interactive Media: 2.1%
5. Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network: 1.9%
6. MSN/Windows Live: 1.7%
7. ABC.COM: 1.6%
8. MTV Networks Music: 1.5%
9. Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network: 1.4%
10. CNN Digital Network: 1.2%
(Nielsen Online, May 2009)

17.4 million people in the US downloaded podcasts on a monthly basis in 2008, according to eMarketer. eMarketer projects that growth will continue at least through 2013, when there will be 37.6 million people downloading podcasts on a monthly basis, more than double the 2008 figure. As a percentage of internet users, podcast downloaders will grow from 9% in 2008 to 17% in 2013.

US podcast audience, 2008-2013:
- 2008: 17.4 million (9.0% of internet users)
- 2009: 21.9 million (11.0%)
- 2010: 26.7 million (13.0%)
- 2011: 30.6 million (14.5%)
- 2012: 34.6 million (16.0%)
- 2013: 37.6 million (17.0%)

US online buyers who purchase mostly online showed an even greater propensity to listen to podcasts. Some 50% of mostly online buyers in a PriceGrabber.com survey said they listened to podcasts - a far greater number than comparable percentages of internet users or consumers as a whole.

As for who is doing the downloading, a Pew Internet & American Life Project demographic profile of US adult internet users who downloaded podcasts showed that they skewed male and young. The group ages 18 to 29 had the highest representation of podcast downloaders. Rates of podcast downloading steadily decreased for older age groups. (eMarketer, March 2009)