One Touch Intelligence: Internet Video Usage: A Tale of Two Communities - Stewart Schley – MediaBizBloggers

"There are basically two types of people,"observed Mark Twain. "People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded."

That's downright pithy. But it's just one in a long list of "two kinds of people" quotations. Another, and a personal favorite, goes like this: "There are two kinds of people in the world: People who believe there are two kinds of people in the world, and people who don't."

But seriously, in the world of Internet video, there really are two kinds of people: those who watch TV shows and movies online, and those who don't. Increasingly, it's the former camp that's getting deserved attention as a range of video industry participants get excited, or worried (or both) about a changing environment for receiving television programming.

For that reason, understanding the habits and attitudes of those who watch long-form video entertainment online is particularly important. Especially interesting, we submit, are the behaviors of individuals who watch long-form video online at home, even though they have access to a rich array of television content from cable and/or satellite TV services. In a sea of choice, with hundreds of digital channels and thousands of on-demand options available, why is it that people seemingly desire more, or different, ways to watch? And what is it about access to video content online that seems to be alluring?

In an attempt to answer those questions, we initiated a primary research effort in April in association with the media and technology research firm ConStat. Our objectives were to survey a large sample of adults who met three important qualifications. To make the survey pool, they had to:
· Subscribe to a pay TV service
· Have a broadband Internet connection
· Watch at least one hour of scripted, long-form video content monthly

In other words, we isolated the survey population only to those who regularly watch episodic TV shows and movies online. If you skimmed the occasional YouTube video or news clip, you didn't make the grade. If you watched "Lost" on Hulu or ABC.com (as many reported doing), you did.

Drawing from an unweighted, representative sample of all U.S. adults, we found 43% of adults in broadband/pay TV households reported watching long-form video online at least once a month (a percentage that translates to around 28% of total U.S. homes). In a "two types of people" categorization, we had identified our type. We surveyed 1,007 of these qualified respondents in a detailed online survey.

What did we find? Plenty. Among these households – we call them Internet video enthusiasts – it's clear that online video has risen to a position of prominence among all users, whether they watch online video over PCs or over TV sets. But we also found interesting distinctions between those who confine their online video viewing to PCs and those who have made the leap to the TV screen by connecting video game consoles, Blu-ray players and other devices to watch online video.

Here are just a few top-line observations from Internet Video 2010: Users, Devices and Behaviors:

· High satisfaction.Adults who watch professionally produced, scripted TV programs and movies from the Internet give high marks to the experience, signifying the medium has come a long way from the days when "streaming video" meant postage-stamp sized viewing windows and frequent buffering delays. Among those adults who watch Internet video on televisions screens, more than two-thirds rated their satisfaction at 8 or higher on a 10-point scale in general quality measures. Slightly fewer say they were highly satisfied with the ease of installing various devices that receive and display Internet video to the TV set.

· Significant time devotion: Internet video enthusiasts also proclaim to devote significant amounts of TV viewing time to Internet video, calculating they spend 31% of TV viewing time, on average, to the medium. Most of that viewing time occurs over PCs, but TV viewing of Internet video accounts for 11% of total TV viewing time reported by these households. A broad caveat applies here, in that survey data almost invariably tend to overstate usage of newer and more novel mediums at the expense of more familiar mediums, such as traditional television. Even so, seen purely from a directional or guidance standpoint, there is meaning in the fact that users perceive Internet video occupies a prominent position in their viewing lives.

· Top content sites: Internet-video enthusiasts report different viewing habits than those exhibited by the general U.S. Internet video user base, where Google's YouTube dominates viewing. Although YouTube remains a popular choice within homes where long-form Internet video is watched at least monthly, the top-rated Internet video provider in these households is the long-form video aggregator Hulu. Also scoring high is the Netflix video-streaming service Watch Instantly, which 32% of enthusiasts say they use. Among branded network TV websites, ABC's ABC.com is the most-watched service, possibly reflecting its earlier toehold in the market. (ABC was the first broadcast network to offer full-length TV shows online when it launched the ABC.com player in 2006.)

· Game consoles rule:Internet-connectible TVs are exploding into the marketplace, with one new projection (ABI Research) estimating 46% of flat-panel TVs sold in 2013 will feature an Ethernet port. But Internet-connected TV sets for now take a back seat to video game consoles as the most prevalent devices for capturing Internet video and exporting it to the TV screen. Our survey found that among households using Internet-to-TV devices to watch long-form video entertainment, 73% have one or more of the three major video game consoles connected to a TV set and used to watch Internet video.

Those are just some of the insights gleaned through a focused examination of behaviors among adults who have come to rely on the Internet for access to branded television entertainment – and may represent of viewing patterns for the future.

NOTE: For full results of One Touch Intelligence's Internet Video 2010 study, including cross-tabulations, data files and a detailed executive summary, contact research@onetouchintelligence.com.

Stewart Schley is Senior Director of Industry Intelligence forOne Touch Intelligence, a leading provider of competitive intelligence, business analytics and market assessment services for leading providers in the cable telecommunications, TV content and filmedentertainment industries. One Touch Intelligence's VIDEOTRAK™ intelligence service provides analysis and perspective around the online video sector. To find out more about VIDEOTRAK, contact Stewart atstewarts@onetouchiintelligence.com.

Read all Stewart's MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Touchpoints - MediaBizBloggers.

Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggers.com
Follow our Twitter updates @MediaBizBlogger