ABI Sees Strong Surge in Online Video Viewing

NEW YORK, December
15: A shift towards Internet-connected TV devices is set to increase the number
of online video viewers worldwide from 563 million this year to 941 million by
2013, according to a new study from ABI Research.

The research notes
that while most online consumers today view video on a PC, the next few years
will see the increase in the use of Internet-connected devices, such as Sony's
latest line of BRAVIA sets.

"All
stakeholders in the online video ecosystem are eyeing the living room,"
said research director Michael Wolf. "With the continued adoption of
network-connected video-game consoles, the porting of popular online video
services such as Hulu and Netflix onto third-party consumer electronics
devices, and network operators' growing interest in over-the-top video, we see
this market for TV-displayed online video continuing to grow."

Wolf continued:
"There is a continued maturation in the various advertising models for
online video. At the same time, hybrid models such as those offered by
Netflix's instant viewing service or pay models such as Apple TV will also grow
in importance. Also, while the economic environment will have some negative
near-term impact on online video advertising CPMs, ABI Research sees overall
viewing of online video growing over the next few years as it is a fairly
resilient and somewhat counter-cyclical form of low-priced entertainment."

—By Mansha Daswani