According to a recent comScore study or U.S. Online TV viewership, when cross-platform viewers were asked about their motivations for consuming a portion of their TV content online, freedom in time
and space emerged as primary motivators. 75% of these viewers selected "online" over "TV" because they were able to watch the show wherever they wanted, while 74% selected online
because they were able to watch the show on their own time. They also preferred online TV viewing for the ability to stop and play shows when they wanted, and less interference from commercials. TV
fared substantially better than online for sound and picture quality.
70% say online TV is better for stopping and playing a show whenever they want, 67% say there is less interference from
commercials, and 61% say there is more overall convenience. When asked specifically why they watched TV episodes online, the most frequently cited reason among cross-platform viewers was that they had
missed an episode on TV (71%), followed by convenience (57%) and fewer ads (38%).
Traditional TV is seen as providing a higher quality viewing experience. This is reflected by percentages of
cross-platform viewers who say traditional TV is better for picture quality, sound quality, viewing a show as soon as it's released, and overall viewing experience.
Cross-Platform TV Viewer Media Preferences (Total U.S., Cross-Platform TV Viewers) |
| Share of Cross-Platform Viewers |
Response to "is Online or TV better?" | Online | TraditionalTV |
Watch the show wherever I want | 75% | 25% |
Watch the show on my own time | 74% | 24% |
Ability to stop and play show when I want | 70% | 30% |
Less interference from commercials | 67% | 33% |
Overall convenience | 61% | 39% |
Overall viewing experience | 32% | 68% |
View show as soon as it's released | 31% | 69% |
Sound quality | 28%
| 72% |
Picture quality | 25% | 75% |
Source: comScore, Inc. December 2009, Released April 2010 |
In order to determine viewer receptivity to advertising when watching TV shows online, respondents were asked about their "advertising tolerance" when watching one hour
of TV programming on the Internet. The results indicated that online advertising's "sweet spot" is between 6 and 7 minutes per hour, substantially higher than the approximately 4 minutes
per hour that is currently consumed by ads delivered online as part of TV content.
Tania Yuki, comScore director of online video and cross-platform product, says "... while some analysts
have suggested that the shift to online video reflects a consumer desire to view fewer ads, our research suggests that... online TV viewers actually have a higher tolerance for advertising messages
than they are currently receiving... media companies have not yet extracted full value out of the online medium."
Time shifting of TV viewing is most prevalent among younger TV viewers,
with only 35% of viewers age 18-24 indicating they watched episodes live, 42% saying they watched the programming at a different time within one week of the original air date and 23% saying that they
watched more than one week after the original air date. 25-34 year olds exhibited similar time-shifting behavior, while older age segments exhibited the least amount of time-shifting behavior.
TV Time-Shifting by Age Segment(Total U.S., Share of TV
Viewers) |
| | Time
Shifted |
Age Segment | Watch Live | Same Day to 3 Days After Airing | 4-7 Days After Airing | > than 7 Days After Airing |
18-24 | 35% | 22% | 20% | 23% |
25-34 | 35% | 23% | 24% | 18% |
35-49 | 46% | 21% | 17% | 16% |
50-64 | 55% | 16% | 17% | 11% |
65+ | 57% | 16% | 14% | 13% |
Source: comScore, Inc. December
2009, Released April 2010 |
Younger TV viewers are also more likely to watch TV across media with 54% of cross-platform viewers being under the age of 35
compared to just 30% of TV-only viewers.
For additional information, please visit
comScore here.
The study is based on a survey of more than 1,800 US internet users who watch originally scripted TV content, grouped into three segments: TV-only viewers, cross-platform
viewers, and online-only viewers, to analyze differences in viewing of originally scripted TV programming.