• by Paul Gough , September 6, 2002

Streaming audio and video consumers have more buying power than the average Internet user and are more aware of online audio commercials.

Those are among the findings of an Arbitron/Edison Media Research study of the media and entertainment habits of online consumers. The study, the ninth since August 1998, measures streaming media and users’ behavior on the Internet.

The survey found 35% of Americans 12 and older – 83 million people – have listened or watched streaming content over the Internet. Thirty-eight million have used streaming media within the past month, up slightly from a year ago, and the number of Americans who have streamed within the past week has been flat at 19 million compared to a year ago.

The study found 75% of the monthly “streamies” are between 18 and 54, with 19% teenagers and 6% over the age of 55. They’re more confident than the average Internet user with 57% having a household income of more than $50,000 a year and 45% with an undergraduate degree or higher. Thirty-nine percent have a residential broadband connection, compared to only 15% of the total population.

This demographic is also more likely to respond to advertising and make purchases on the Web. Thirty percent of monthly “streamies” have made an online purchase within the past month, compared to 14% among Web users. And monthly “streamies” spend more online too, $815 a year compared to $596 among Web users overall. “Streamies” spend almost as much time online as they do with traditional media: 28% of their time online; TV, 33%; radio, 33%; and newspapers, 5%.

The most popular streaming video online is overwhelmingly movie trailers or previews (62%) and music videos (52%). Other streaming media includes online video weather forecasts (35%); video newscasts (35%); online video from TV stations (31%); video highlights of sporting events (31%); short or full-length movies (30%); and online video business reports (12%).

Online radio audiences have stayed flat as the legal wrangling surrounding them continue. Local radio stations are favored 48% to the 41% who listen to stations from other parts of the United States.

The consumers who listen to streaming audio say viewing Web banner ads is a fair price to pay for access to content. But even more – 70% -- say listening to audio commercials is a fair price to pay for free access to content. Awareness of audio advertising over the Web has grown to 40% of consumers, compared to 31% a year ago. More than two-thirds of the people who stream weekly have heard an audio Web commercial; half of the monthly “streamies” have heard one.

Arbitron and Edison Media Research surveyed 2,511 people for the study. The study is available at http://www.arbitron.com/home/content.stm or www.edisonresearch.com.