Watch Out Broadcast TV, Here Comes Online TV

Watch Out Broadcast TV, Here Comes Online TV

Friday, September 05, 2008 - by Daniel A. Begun
What is the most important thing to you that you can do on the Internet? Forget communicating and gathering information; according to results from a just-released study, for ten percent of all U.S. online households, entertainment is the single-most important thing that the Internet offers. In fact, the study indicates that nearly 20 percent of all U.S. households are now watching TV broadcasts online. This matches the results that came out of a similar study about a month ago that said that 20 percent of primetime TV is watched online.

"Most consumers are pressed for time and require flexibility in their daily schedules and TV viewing habits," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are clearly reasons why we are seeing a greater number turning to the Internet. And, it is the reason why we would expect to see this trend continue."

The study reports that the majority of online TV viewing is taking place on "the official TV channel homepage, accessed by 65 percent of viewers." Another 41 percent claim that their primary source is YouTube. Sources such as Hulu, iTunes, and file sharing are still in the single digits percentage-wise. The study states that "few consumers are willing to enroll in pay per download and subscription services." The fact that Hulu--an inline-video advertising-based, free TV- and movie-streaming site--has quickly grown to be the eighth largest video site in the U.S. bears this out. Neilsen's July numbers show that Hulu had more "streams" than CNN and Turner Networks, with almost 106 million video streams.

For those who watch TV online, about 90 percent say that they watch "online broadcasts at home." Approximately 15 percent of online TV viewers claim that they watch online TV in the workplace. As to what they are watching, the study breaks it down this way:

  • News: 43%
  • Dramas: 39%
  • Sitcoms/Comedies: 34%
  • Reality shows: 23%
  • Sports: 16%
  • User-generated content: 15%

It's a safe bet that as online TV content increases in availability and quality (in both image quality as well as the quality of the available content), online TV viewership will continue to grow. With the greatest demand coming from those seeking free content, the challenge will be for content providers to figure out how to best monetize online TV streaming. Another recent study shows, however, that as many as 82 percent of online TV viewers feel that it is reasonable to expect there to be advertising in full-length online TV shows. Therefore transferring the advertising-driven TV model from broadcast to online might be a fairly seamless process. With some TV shows premiering on Hulu, such as Knight Rider, before they are even available on regular broadcast TV, we might be witnessing the beginning of a new revolution of how TV content is consumed.
Via: The Conference Board | News Archive | Tags: TV
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Comments

By warlord on Sep 5, 2008

It's good to see tv finally catch up to the new century

By Lev_Astov on Sep 5, 2008

I've been watching TV exclusively on Hulu for the last few months now. It's the best! At least, it will be until they decide their users are hooked enough that they can up the number of ads they show significantly. I've already seen signs on Hulu that they plan on showing many ads in a row eventually. In rare cases at the start of a program, it'll say "Advertisement 1 of 2" at the top during the "this program brought to you by..." spiel. I'm pretty sure they already worked out how to ad as many commercials as they please based upon this.

By Drago on Sep 5, 2008

i dare you guys to try and watch tv on the net over dialup.  There are still to many people that dont have fast enough internet to do this, and what is worse is that the more that people watch crap online, the more likely ISP's will want to go and bill people for bandwidth used.  From a IT standpoint, i clearely hate it.  I dont like stuff sucking down bandwidth, and this streaming tv stuff really hogs bandwidth.  At work we have this traffic blocked, and when people find other sites not filtered the entire network gets affected for internet speed since everyone shares the same internet speed.

 

It is nice to see this but it is to far ahead of its time for the avg person since the US is the worst in the world for developed countries for adequate internet access.  The city slickers have it best, and those that live in rual areas get the shaft.  Can you believe this, the fastest internet i can get where i live is dialup.  NOTHING else is offered sides satilite, and there are so many trees where i live  it makes that 10x worse than dialup. DTV is crap as well, the signal cuts out and voice and images are lost/garbled while analog has worked fine for years.  If i could watch stuff online i would but with dialiup i cant so come the time when analog tv goes away im just going to boycott TV since i refuse to have to pay money for something that has been free and to get a worse product in the process.

By Grahf on Sep 5, 2008

Yikes Drago, sounds like you need to plan a move! You sound like you're getting the cabin fever.

By nelsoncp21 on Sep 5, 2008

 While I feel your pain Drago I still believe this to be a good thing. IMO the more demand the more apt these isp's are to spend the money to keep up with technology and the demand. It also may have an impact on cable providers and they're ridiculous prices. The more people are watching online and the more competition the better the qaulity and the lower the prices. I could be wrong though it wouldn't be the first time.

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