• by Wayne Friedman , July 6, 2009

Lower TV ratings got you down? A new survey about short, professionally produced online videos might explain why.

In a new survey, media researcher Frank N. Magid Associates says shorter online video -- done professionally -- has been found to be more entertaining than full-length TV shows on traditional TV sets among 37% of consumers.

"Online video viewership has reached critical mass, and its growing popularity indicates that online video is fast becoming an entertainment genre in its own right," said Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors, in a release. The survey was put together with video site Metacafe.

Overall, the most-watched online videos are not professionally produced. According to the survey, video shot by consumers pulls in 43% of regular online video users. The second-most-viewed online video comes from news stories: 32%. Then comes music videos, 31%; movie previews, 29%; and comedy/bloopers, 26%.

The research also showed that 34% of TV viewers use their computers half the time while watching TV. Also, 20% of all online video viewers watch less TV as a direct result of using online video.

A little less than half, or 43%, of all Internet users watch some online videos weekly, with young males watching the most -- 70% of men 18-24 watching per week, including 25% who watch daily.

The biggest female group was girls 12-17. Fifty-six percent watch weekly, including the 13% who watch daily. Not surprisingly, older population groups -- 55- to-64-year-olds -- watch to a much smaller degree, 30% of the time on a weekly basis.

The Magid study was conducted recently, with 2,000 people 12-64 years old.