According to recent data from Ipsos MediaCT's MOTION study, online digital video has become mainstream in the U.S., as 67% of online Americans have now streamed or downloaded digital video content
("digital video users"). YouTube dominates the short video clip market, while 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, but today, its awareness is 41%. iTunes posted growth
for digital video during this time frame, and the visibility of MySpace as a digital video source has dimmed recently.
Digital Video Awareness & Usage (% of Digital Video Users; Awareness as a Digital Video Provider) |
| September 2008 | April
2009 |
| Awareness | Past 30 Day Use | Awareness | Past 30 Day Use |
YouTube | 83% | 49% | 87% | 56% |
iTunes store | 46 | 8 | 49 | 10 |
MySpace | 54 | 13 | 46 | 9 |
Hulu | 9 | 3 | 41 | 14 |
Source: Ipsos MediaCT, September
2009 |
Brian Pickens, Senior Research Manager at Ipsos MediaCT, says "The increase in usage across multiple sites and business models confirms that
Americans are watching a greater breadth of digital video... (while) studio support of Hulu... illustrates that many... on the content side have already incorporated online digital media into their
strategies."
Consumer willingness to accept advertising within the online digital video medium is paramount. A positive sign is that a clear majority of digital video users feel it is
reasonable to have advertising embedded in both online full-length TV shows and movies, as long as the content remains free-of-charge. These numbers help to illustrate why streaming sites have rapidly
increased in popularity over a short timeframe.
Acceptance of Free, Advertising
Supported Video (% of Digital Video Users, April, 2009) |
| Very
Reasonable | Somewhat Reasonable | Not Very Reasonable | Not At All Reasonable |
Full length TV shows | 37% | 49% | 7% | 7% |
Full length movies | 35 | 43 | 12 | 10 |
Movie/TV trailers of previews | 26 | 39 | 17 | 18 |
Amateur/homemade video clips | 22 | 28 | 20 | 31 |
Source: Ipsos MediaCT, September 2009 |
It is important to note, says the report, 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, there
is a (consumer) desire to combine the readily available online video content and the preferred viewing platform: the television.
Pickens concludes, "... Americans remain happy with
their TVs and HDTVs... especially as TVs grow larger and resolution improves.... However... 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."
For additional information, please visit Ipsos here.