|
What's on the Internet tonight
Computers & Business World News
eMarketer
Miami
Florida, USA
Americans
have not abandoned their televisions, but some are moving their
viewing to a different screen.
About 16% of US Internet
households watch TV broadcasts online, according to
The Conference Board and
TNS. Respondents said that TV
on the Internet had replaced news programs as their most widely
viewed online content.
“Although online TV
viewing is still not a widespread phenomenon, the proportion of
users has increased since 2006 and is likely to increase over
time, given consumers’ love for entertainment,” said Lynn
Franco, director of consumer research at
The
Conference Board, in a statement.
Consumers
who watched TV online said it was convenient and helped them
avoid commercials.
Online video
of all types is unlikely to bite into US TV viewing time,
according to Paul Verna, senior analyst at eMarketer.
"Rather than
a wholesale shift in viewership from TV to the new-media
channels, both media will actually grow in the next several
years," Mr. Verna said. "Internet video will entrench itself in
the content mainstream, right alongside TV, albeit not in such
pervasive numbers."
According to eMarketer
projections, by 2011 there will be 200 million broadband
Internet users.
Of them, 183 million, or 91%, will watch online videos.
As eMarketer mentioned in February, NBC's "Rewind" online
video player complements consumer TV viewing instead of
substituting for it.
For
marketers, online video and TV viewing can be even more
complementary.
A March 2007
comScore
analysis of TV and online video viewing habits concluded that
the Internet’s primetime block occurs between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
on weekdays. This segues neatly into the standard TV primetime
schedule of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., offering marketers an opportunity
to tailor their messages accordingly.
“Marketers have a great opportunity to leverage Internet video
in conjunction with their traditional TV buy and essentially
double their 'primetime' commercial airing hours,” said Erin
Hunter, executive vice president of media and entertainment
solutions at comScore, in a statement. |
