• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 9, 2008

Online Video Attracts Six Out of Ten Internet Users Weekly

According to the latest Horowitz Associates report, Broadband Content and Services 2007, six out of ten high speed Internet users watch/download online video content at least once a week and 86% do so on a monthly basis, compared to 45% and 71%, respectively, in the 2006 study.  News and user-generated, non-professional content are the most often viewed genres, followed by movie previews/trailers, music videos, and previews/segments of TV shows.

Weekly viewing of full episodes of television shows doubled from last year, with 16% of high speed Internet users watching TV online on a weekly basis.

NBC and ABC are the networks Internet users mention the most frequently for online TV content, with Grey's Anatomy being the most often mentioned TV program viewed online.

While consumption of broadband video has grown, the study shows that television is still the preferred platform for traditional TV content:

• 70% of Internet users who watch TV online say do so because they missed the episode on TV
• 18% of these respondents say they watch TV shows online to watch them again after having watched them on TV
• 20%watch TV shows online just when they happen to find them or when someone else tells them about them
• 13% of Internet users who watch TV shows online say they watch them directly online, and not on regular TV.

Penetration of video-enabled handheld (portable) devices is on the rise as is viewing of video content on these devices. 27% of Internet users have a cell, iPod/MP3 player, or PDA with video capability, and an additional 23% do not have this capability but are interested in getting it. 

Among those with video-enabled handheld devices, 35% watch video on their devices at least weekly and 62% do so at least monthly, translating to 18% of Internet users overall who watch video content on a handheld device at least monthly.  This figure is up from 8% just one year ago.

Howard Horowitz, President of Horowitz Associates, Inc, concludes that "There is a dynamic relationship between broadband access, broadband content and broadband consumption... bringing more consumers to the platform... (which) creates an even greater demand (and expectation) for broadband video... the data suggest that broadband video is not cannibalistic to linear video, but rather, an enhancement to the consumers' 'traditional' TV experience."

For more about this study conducted Sept.-Oct 2007 by Horowitz Associates, please visit here.