• by Masha Geller , September 5, 2001

In case you're wondering whether or not you should try streaming ads, this latest study may shed some light on the subject. Most "streamies" - those who have watched or listened to streaming media online - first experienced Internet webcasting in the last 12 months according to a new study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research.

The study, "Internet VII: The Internet & Streaming: What Consumers Want Next" finds that 56% of audio streamies and 49% of video streamies say they first began tuning to Internet audio and video in the past year. From July 2000 to July 2001, the number of U.S. consumers, age 12 and older, who have accessed streaming media rose from 67 million (30% of Americans) to 78 million (34%).

************************************************** Sponsor Ad Sales don't happen on the front page. Why send your prospects there? LookListings, from LookSmart, take prospects directly from search results on MSN, Excite, AltaVista, Juno and Prodigy to your product and service pages. The result is 150-200 highly qualified leads per listing per month, with industry leading conversion rates. No wonder Amazon, eBay, Gap, Eddie Bauer, OfficeMax, Spiegel and Banana Republic all use them. For the full story, click here: http://submit.looksmart.com/list.jhtml?chan=mediapost *************************************************************

Asked which activities they are spending less time with due to the time they spend online, Americans say they are spending less time with both TV and print. One-third (33%) said they are watching less TV due to the time they spend online, followed by 25% of magazine readers 23% of newspaper readers. In addition, 16% said they are listening to radio less because of the time they spend on the Internet.

The study also finds that 27% of audio streamies would be very interested in paying a small subscription fee to listen to songs or albums from their favorite artists. Both video and audio streamies are very interested in online concerts. Consumers also show substantial interest in subscribing to various types of sports content. In the last month, 18 percent of streamies who listen online said they are "very interested" or "somewhat interested" in paying a small fee to listen to Major League Baseball games online.

"This study reinforces that consumers believe advertising is a fair trade for free online content," said Edison President Larry Rosin. "Now we also see evidence that supports streaming subscription models. Consumers show significant interest in paying for streamed content, just as they have shown their willingness to pay for premium channels and pay- per-view events on cable."