According to Nielsen's online panel data of U.S. visitors to online TV sites in the last 30 days, when it comes to viewing behavior, demographics, and ad effectiveness, those watching online TV
Network video are closer demographically to DVR users by gender breaks, but closer to the general online population relative to age, reports Jon Gibs, VP for Insights, Online and Cross Media.
Americans are consuming more and more video on TV, Web and Mobile according to the recent Nielsen A2/M2 Three Screen Report, but the broader usage patterns suggest that online video is a
replacement of DVR use, or used by those who do not have immediate access to TV. TV network content online is used to catch up with programming, and not typically as a replacement for TV viewing, as
results from the email survey showed.
Reasons For Watching TV Shows On The
Internet |
Reason | % of
Respondents |
Forgot to watch a specific episode when it aired on TV | 54% |
Catching up on the current season of programming because I missed a large number of episodes | 47% |
Catching up on a past season of a program before the next season airs | 33% |
Forgot to record a specific episode with my DVR or TiVo when it aired on TV | 32% |
Other member of my household watching another program at the same time | 18% |
Watch TV programming online when I am at work | 12% |
Watch TV programming online when I travel | 12% |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
Online TV Network consumption
appears to be an activity set aside in specific sessions from most other online activities, says the report. For those who go online to watch TV shows, that activity dominates that particular online
session, with women and the 18-34 group spending the biggest parts of their sessions on network viewing:.
Time Watching Video On Broadcast Site When Session Involves Broadcast Site Viewing |
Viewers | % Session Time Watching |
Average of
all | 73% |
Men | 75% |
Women | 69% |
Age Groups | |
2-11 | 50% |
12-17 | 71% |
18-24 | 78% |
25-34 | 79% |
35-49 | 69% |
50-64 | 68% |
65+ | 59% |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
While many of us may watch TV
with friends or family members, the viewing of TV shows online proves to be a rather solitary activity. This may change as internet connectivity to our main TV screens becomes more ubiquitous, but
right now, the majority of online viewers prefer to be alone.
Frequency of
Watching TV on the Internet With One or More Other People |
Frequency | % of Respondents |
Never | 49% |
Rarely | 35 |
Often | 7 |
Frequently | 7 |
Always | 3 |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
TV commercial spots reused online appear to have more impact on recall and likeability than creative just designed for online, as noted in a case study with food and
beverage ads.
Recall In F & B Category on Premium Video Sites (% of
Respondents) |
Ad Type | General Recall | Brand Recall | Message Recall | Likeability |
Repurposed TV ad | 55% | 46% | 31% | 24% |
Web original ad | 47 | 40 | 21 | 23 |
Web original flash animation | 34 | 31 | 19 | 14 |
Source:
The Nielsen Company |
The writer concludes that "This look into the similarities and differences of TV viewing on the web should be a reminder to brand
managers that 'context' is just as much king these days as content."
And, to put Online viewing in perspective, another recent Nielsen report finds that the number of unique
viewers of online video increased 5.2% year-over-year from 137.4 million unique viewers in January 2009 to 142.7 million in January 2010.
Overall Online Video Usage (U.S.) |
| January 2010 | Year-Over-Year | Month-Over-Month |
Unique Viewers (000) | 142,668 | 5.2% | 3.8% |
Total Streams (000) | 11,061,458 | 5.8% | 3.1% |
Streams per
Viewer | 77.5 | 0.5% | -0.8% |
Time per Viewer (min) | 188.7 | 5.7% | -2.3% |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
Top U.S. Online Brands Ranked by Total Streams (January 2010) |
Rank | Video Brand | Total Streams
(000) | M-O-M Streams % Growth |
1 | YouTube | 6,622,374 | 3.0% |
2 | Hulu | 635,546 | 0.1% |
3 | Yahoo! | 221,355 | -9.2% |
4 | MSN/WindowsLive/Bing | 179,741 | 27.3% |
5 | Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network | 137,311 | -3.5% |
6 | MTV Networks Music | 131,077 | 31.7% |
7 | ABC Television | 128,510 | 71.3% |
8 | Fox
Interactive Media | 124,513 | -0.7% |
9 | Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network | 117,057 | 9.3% |
10 | Megavideo | 115,089 | 3.7% |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
Among the top Web brands ranked by unique viewers in January, Disney
Online was the fastest growing month-over-month, increasing 23.3%. Facebook and MSN/WindowsLive/Bing were the second and third fastest growing, increasing 18.6% and 15.6% month-over-month,
respectively.
Top U.S. Online Brands Ranked by Unique Viewers (January
2010) |
Rank | Video Brand | Unique Viewers (000) | M-O-M Viewers % Growth |
1 | YouTube | 112,642 | 6.7% |
2 | Yahoo! | 26,081 | -5.3% |
3 | Facebook | 21,529 | 18.6% |
4 | MSN/WindowsLive/Bing | 15,645 | 15.6% |
5 | Hulu | 15,256 | 11.9% |
6 | Fox Interactive Media | 11,450 | 4.9% |
7 | Google | 10,567 | 2.5% |
8 | CNN Digital
Network | 10,385 | 11.6% |
9 | ESPN Digital Network | 8,995 | 6.2% |
10 | Disney Online | 8,066 | 23.3% |
Source: The Nielsen Company |
For additional information from Nielsen and this study, please visit here.