Two separate studies find that online video viewing has grown astronomically and is on track to grow even further.
A report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project has determined that the audience for online video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Google Video has almost doubled since 2006. About 62% of all online users now say they have watched video on these sites, compared to 33% who reported the same in December 2006.
While the increase was virtually across all demographics, Web video is now approaching total penetration among younger online users. The Pew report found that nine in 10 Web viewers aged 18 to 29 say they watch content on video-sharing sites, and more than a third in that age group (36%) say they do so every day.
Overall 18% of Web users say they go to those video sites on an average day, compared to 8% who did so back in 2006.
That figure makes watching online video a more prevalent Web activity for adult Internet users than using social network sites (something 46% of them do), podcast downloading (19%) or microblogging sites such as Twitter (11%).
As for what they’re watching, Pew researchers report that 35% of Internet users now say they’ve watched a professionally produced TV show or movie online. Such long-form video is coming to comprise a growing proportion of the content available on YouTube and other video-sharing sites, as well as on network-sponsored sites such as www.Hulu.com.
And of those who say they’ve watched long-form video online, almost a quarter say they have connected their computer to a TV screen in order to view Internet video on the larger set. As the Pew report points out, that means that roughly 8% of all Internet users today can view Web video over a digital TV.
Meanwhile a separate report from marketing research firm eMarketer forecasts that online video viewing will reach 70% of the U.S. Internet population this year and will extend to 85% of that same audience by 2013. In the macro view, that prediction will mean that 59% of the total U.S. population will be online video viewers in 2013, up from 47% this year.
“This will put online video within range of Web activities such as search and e-mail, which are nearly at saturation points among U.S. Internet users,” writes Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report “Video Content: A Premium Opportunity”.
The report says that audience growth for Web video will be fueled by improvements in streaming quality, a wider availability of hi-definition content, and the diffusion of smartphone Web browsers that will make mobile Web video consumption easier and more enjoyable.
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