“Regular viewers” of original digital video programming have
grown to 63 million in 2016 from 45 million over the past three years, according to an analysis released this morning by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
The report, dubbed the
“2016 Original Digital Video Study,” is part of a series of reports being
released by the IAB that seem timed to pique advertiser and agency interest while big digital media platforms are competing for future advertising budgets alongside TV networks in the upfront
advertising marketplace.
The IAB said the study is based on a “comprehensive survey” of more than 1,900 consumers. The study, which was conducted online by GfK Research
March 15-24, utilizes different methods than television researchers such as Nielsen use to define TV audience viewing.
Aside from being self-reported consumer data vs. panel-based
measurement of viewing behavior, it is based on what consumers said their monthly video-streaming consumption is versus the kind of average audience estimates used as the currency for television
advertising buys, so it is fundamentally an apples-to-oranges comparison.
That said, the IAB found a significant uptake in the amount of original digital video consumption being
reported by average consumers and it used the findings to make the claim that “original digital video beats regular TV.”
The caveat to that claim is it is based on respondent’s
perceptions about the two forms of content being “innovative, young, for anywhere, and unique.”