• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 16, 2007

Video Streamers Skew Younger, Have Higher Incomes, And Are Highly Educated

According to recent findings released by Ipsos Insight from MOTION, a study of digital video behaviors, at the end of 2006 58% of Americans age 12 or older, with Internet access, had streamed some form of video content online...100 million Americans, or 44% of the overall US population age 12 or older.

Brian Cruikshank, Executive Vice President of the Ipsos Insight Technology & Communications, said "... the YouTube phenomenon has caught on with Americans, and given their appetite for video, the ability to select and watch exactly what you want online has become a strong lure for many consumers. And it's instant gratification for entertainment lovers." 

The report goes further to say that 28% of Americans age 12+ have downloaded a digital video file, with a significant amount of overlap between these two types of digital video formats - so many consumers who stream video also experiment with downloading video online.

Teens and young adults are the most likely to stream video online: three in four of all teens age 12-17 and young adults age 18-24 in the US have ever streamed digital video content online. The demographic of the typical video streamer skews younger, are more likely to have higher incomes, and be highly educated.

Ever Streamed a Digital Video File Off the Internet (% of all respondents)
Age	% who have streamed
Total	58%
Total males	64
Total females	51
12-17	73
18-24	75
25-34	61
35-54	56
55+	44
Source: Ipsos Insight, 2007

Today, teens and young adults, on average, have stored 20% of their entire video library either digitally (stored on a hard drive) and/or have burned this content onto DVD-R, says the report. The size of consumers' digital video libraries will continue to grow as the streaming and downloading market matures.

Shorter video clips are by far the most preferred type of video file accessed today by Internet users. Three quarters of all digital video streamers have streamed short news or sports clips, while two thirds have streamed amateur or homemade video clips.

40% of those that have streamed or downloaded video content have accessed YouTube, and many in the past 30 days. Other video file sharing sites such as MySpace and Google Video are also common destinations for video streamers, with about one in five ever having accessed these two sites overall.

Types of Digital Video Streamed (% of respondents having "streamed")
Type	Ever Streamed	Past 30 Days
News, commentary, sports clips	75%	51%
Movie/TV trailers, previews, clips	77	48
Amateur of homemade video clips	67	46
Music videos	63	33
Commercials, advertisements	48	27
Full length TV shows	26	14
Concerts	15	6
Full length movies	15	6
Other	62	40
Source: Ipsos Insight 2007

Most Americans still have never streamed or downloaded a full-length TV show or movie. However, despite the relatively low prevalence levels of downloading movies and TV shows among US adults today, many appear to find the idea appealing: 43% of all digital video downloaders and streamers express some level of interest in downloading full length movies in the near future, while 38% express interest in full length TV show downloads. The most common barriers to downloading are users' unwillingness to pay for this content, as well as a perceived difficulty or inability to burn these files onto DVD.

For the complete report summary, please visit Ipsos here .