For much of streaming media history, Web video has portrayed itself as the cure for prime time ad glut. While the overwhelming majority of TV ad dollars tend to concentrate on just a few viewing hours a day, on-demand Web video shows a more even usage curve throughout the day. Helped in the early days by office broadband connections that were faster than the dial-up most of us suffered at home, the at-work market was Web video's first big target. Here is where advertisers could reach viewers outside of the clutter and cost of TV's prime time with all of the brand engagement and none of the high prices.
Times, viewing habits and technologies have changed. A piece at WSJ explores how traditional online video viewing patterns appear to be shifting. The lunchtime bulge in viewership has now moved to nighttime. WSJ cites Blip.tv metrics that show that peak viewing time has shifted in just the last year from the noon-3 pm timeframe to the 8 pm to 11 pm. Revision3 concurs, saying that video views during prime time now outnumber those during lunchtime. Nielsen says that weekday prime time internet video audience has expanded 14% in the last year, compared to a 1%.
Exactly how and under what circumstances people are watching Web video in the evening is still unclear. Mobile video ad network Rhythm NewMedia told us last week for instance that they see a spike in usage in the evening hours. How much online video viewing is occurring in tandem with a TV screen is anyone's guess. Part of this phenomenon is being fueled by more people connecting their PCs and laptops to a TV than we likely know. For my part I stick with the set top boxes to do my Web video work on the big screen, but I have more than a couple of friends who pack an old PC behind their big-screen and dedicate one input to Web browsing, which inevitably leads them to showing me their latest viral video or Webisode find online.
For Web video companies this is only good news. However users are managing to access online video during prime time (mobile, connected devices, tandem viewing), it is likely happening in the living room. The sanctity of prime time, already eroded by time-shifting, has been invaded. Even more to the point, people appear ready to migrate their online video tastes to the big screen and perhaps blend the broadcast and on demand experiences more seamlessly.
Did someone say Google TV?
While many more are moving to viewing prime time programming online, many have figured out, that what they were trying to escape from, endless commercials, will (and have) followed them to their online viewing.
So some are now "tivo-ing" their online video ventures too, and skip past the annoyances.
Just when the marketeers felt they had a big juicy target.....