Video UX Study Completed, Concludes Multi-Screen Not 'Cannibalistic'

Capping off a week of research findings and discussions focusing on how Madison Avenue measures audiences across the multitude of screens they use to access media, the Council for Research Excellence released what likely is the most comprehensive review of data and trends about video user experiences. The review, which has culminated in a substantial database of some of the most important research conducted to date on how consumer's experience with video across multiple platforms and screens, will be the subject of a webinar hosted by the CRE and MediaPost in New York at 2:30 p.m. today.

The CRE, which is funded by a multiyear, multi-million dollar grant from Nielsen Co., and is led by a group of key advertising and media research stakeholders,, said the database is the first phase of an ongoing Study of User Experience on Multiple Video Screens and Formats. It compiles and archives more than 150 industry and academic studies, many of which are provided in full. The archive, along with findings from the first phase can be found here on the CRE's Web site.

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The initial phase, which was overseen by a team of analysts at BIA/Kelsey, with assistance from Patricia Phalen, associate professor at the George Washington University School of Media & Public Affairs, began in February, and is the basis for a deeper dive into the video user experience, at a time when new screens and platforms seem to be emerging every few months.

Based on review and discussions of the initial findings, the CRE plans to develop additional research initiatives and to issue requests for proposals for those soon.

The initial phase reviews primary research centering on several key questions, including:

1. What drives the choice of screen for the consumer?

2. How does viewing vary with chosen screen?

3. What is an appropriate vocabulary and methodology for understanding viewing styles?

4. What is the context of use across various screens - is the use complementary, additive or zero-sum?

5. What methodologies are best to understand these uses?

Among the initial phase's top line findings is that, "screen choice is driven by both best screen available and best function available - the bigger screen is not necessarily the 'best' screen, multi-screen use is clearly complementary rather than cannibalistic, and researching cross-platform video media requires multiple methodologies.

Jack Wakshlag, the chief research officer at Turner Broadcasting, and chairman of the CRE committee overseeing the studies, said it is a natural progression from an extensive study the CRE conducted with Ball State University's Center for Media Design in 2009. That research, the Video Consumer Mapping Study, directly observed how consumers are currently utilizing various screens to view video content, and concluded that 98% of it still is consumed via a traditional TV set.

That said, Wakshlag noted that initial findings of the new research indicate that behaviors may be changing as rapidly as media technology.

"Something we've learned from this initial phase is that we can forget conventional wisdom about multi-screen behavior; no one yet has definitive answers," he said.

1 comment about "Video UX Study Completed, Concludes Multi-Screen Not 'Cannibalistic'".
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  1. Adam Hulnick from Harris Interactive, June 16, 2011 at 10:59 a.m.

    I'm not seeing info for how to attend this webinar. Am I missing something?

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