• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, October 22, 2010

GfK MRI, a media research firm, is getting into digital out-of-home video measurement. This week brought a new report on place-based video from GfK MRI indicating that 67.4 million U.S. adults -- or 29.6% of the country's adult population -- saw place-based video advertising in the last 30 days, including displays in stores, shopping malls, restaurants, medical offices, bars, airports or health clubs.

This data is obviously encouraging for DO, demonstrating the extensive reach of the emerging medium. For comparison with other new media, in 2010 eMarketer estimated that 58.9 million U.S. adults, representing 25.9% of the adult population, will watch a full-length online video each month. On the mobile front, 15.4% of adult cell phone owners have downloaded an app in the last month, according to Pew, and 8.8% have watched mobile video, according to Nielsen.

The GfK MRI data also revealed some interesting variations in the demographic breakdown of place-based video audiences, including by age and gender. Young people of both genders were more likely to report viewing place-based video ads than older adults. Women ages 18-34 are 13% more likely than the general population to remember viewing a place-based ad in the last 30 days; however, men ages 18-34 are also 28% more likely than women of the same age to view a place-based ad in the last 30 days.

The top place-based venues were stores and shopping malls, reaching 19% and 15% of the U.S. adult population in the last 30 days, respectively. Roughly 11% of U.S. adults saw a video in a restaurant or medical office in the last 30 days, 8.6% saw a video ad in a bar, 8.4% saw an ad at the airport, and 7.1% saw an ad at the gym or health club.