New research from Ipsos Insight suggests that streaming video, epitomized by the YouTube phenomenon, is not only here to stay, but is becoming a common way for all age groups to view content.
According to its biannual study of digital video behavior, Motion, 44% of the overall U.S. population age 12 or older—or approximately 100 million Americans—have streamed a digital video file off of the Internet.
“The larger implication for marketers/advertisers is that younger consumers—many with significant disposable incomes and appetites for entertainment—are flocking to online video as a mainstream medium,” Ispsos director Adam Wright said. “If you want to continue to be relevant with these consumers, it will be critical in the coming years to figure out how to effectively reach this consumer online. Perhaps part of the lure of this medium is that it is ad-free (or at least based on a different expectation than that of broadcast TV), so marketers/advertisers will have to tread carefully in this space.”
Brian Cruikshank, executive vice president of the Ipsos Insight Technology & Communications practice, noted that more than one in four (28%) Americans age 12 and up have downloaded a digital video file, with a significant amount of overlap in contrast to the larger streaming population.
Among those that stream video online, teens and young adults are the most likely to do so: Three in four of all teens age 12-17 and young adults age 18-24 in the U.S. have ever streamed digital video content online.
“Perhaps more impressive than simply how many young adults are currently tapping the Internet for their video entertainment, is that given how important it is for many marketers today to reach this group, we could be witnessing a tipping point in the evolution of digital video offerings online,” Cruikshank said.
Ipsos found that roughly 40% of those that have streamed or downloaded video content have accessed this site, many of whom have visited YouTube.com in the past 30 days. Other video file-sharing sites such as MySpace.com and Google Video are also common destinations for video streamers, with about one in five ever having accessed these two sites overall.
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