NEW YORK — Online video isn't just about video clips anymore. Americans are streaming more TV shows and movies than ever before, according to new data from Ipsos MediaCT’s MOTION study. In the past 30 days, 26 percent of online Americans streamed a full-length TV show and 14 percent streamed a full-length movie -- more than twice the levels measured in September 2008. Not surprisingly, 18-to-24-year-olds took the lead; in the past 30 days, 30 percent of them streamed a full-length movie and 51 percent streamed a full-length TV show.
One reason for the rise in longer-form video streaming is that movies and TV shows are more readily available for streaming. Hulu, in particular, helped pioneer the transition to ad-supported free streaming of TV shows and movies. Now that the ad-supported content model is taking off, Ipsos MediaCT says content providers will be challenged to monetize their content through alternative fee-based methods. Content providers will also need to understand the appropriate level of advertising that streamers will be willing to tolerate.
This is not to say that digital video is replacing the TV – far from it. The average American with Internet access watches 15 hours of television per week, compared to less than two hours on the PC. Even among digital video users, 64 percent would rather watch hour-long dramas and half-hour comedies on the TV.
Data were sourced from the April 2009 wave of Ipsos MediaCT’s MOTION study, which was conducted via online interviews among a representative online population aged 12 years and older.
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