• by November 7, 2000

According to a new MeasureCast, Inc./Harris Interactive study, the typical streaming media consumer is a 36-year-old white male who lives in the Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, or Oklahoma), has completed some college, and earns between $50,000 and $75,000.

Streaming media audience measurement firm MeasureCast recently teamed with Harris Interactive to conduct the in-depth analysis of the demographic makeup and universe of streaming media consumers, and as a result, of the 9,721 interviews completed for this research, nearly one in six respondents (16%) qualified as active streaming media consumers -- meaning they watched streaming video or listened to streaming audio for at least one hour in the previous 30 days.

"This study demonstrates that the momentum behind streaming media is building," said MeasureCast CEO Edward T. Hardy. "As the leading third-party streaming audience measurement service, one of our key roles is to identify the ideal demographic for on-line advertisers, and to demonstrate to ad agencies and media buyers that streaming media has become a viable advertising medium," he said.

Of the above group, one-fifth (20%) watch or listen to streaming media every day. More than one-half (57%) use the medium a few times per week. The study also found that overall, men (20%) are more likely to qualify as active streaming media users than women (12%).

The study also reveals that the typical streaming media consumer uses the Internet for at least eight hours a week, and that he is more likely to use broadband technology (T1 lines or DSL) than typical Internet users.

However, he is frustrated by today's lack of bandwidth.

Additional study findings include:

* 67% of the online population is familiar with streaming media.

* Men (76%) are more familiar than women (58%).

* People with household incomes of $50,000 or higher (71%) are significantly more familiar than people with household incomes less than $50,000 (65%).

* The majority of active streaming media consumers will 'definitely' continue to use streaming media (75%).

* Of individuals who use streaming media every day, 92% are significantly more likely to 'definitely' continue using streaming than those who use streaming media weekly (75%) or monthly (55%).