Study: Behavioral Differences Among Online Video Viewer Segments

RESTON, February 15: A study from digital research firm
comScore found enormous differences between viewing duration among online-video
viewers, with heavy viewers watching an average of 841 minutes a month, which
is 11 times as much as moderate viewers and 140 times as much as light viewers.

Heavy viewers are defined as those in the top 20 percent in
terms of time spent viewing online video. Moderate viewers, the next 30
percent, spent an average of 77 minutes viewing online video, while light
viewers, those in the bottom 50 percent, spent only 6 minutes each month
viewing online video.

The research of the proprietary study, conducted in
association with Media Contact, Havas Media’s global interactive media network,
also found that YouTube is the top video destination across all three viewer
segments, and reaches 54 percent of overall video viewers, the most of any
site.

However, YouTube aside, the results also revealed that
viewing destinations contrast sharply across viewing segments. Heavy users
primarily visit niche sites that reach less than one percent of the total U.S.
web population, such as Ouou.com, MegaVideo.com or Youku.com. By contrast,
moderate viewers spend most of their online viewing time watching specific
video content at broadcast TV sites, including WorldNow (ABC), CBS TV Local,
ABC Daytime, Scripps TV and CMT, rather than on video-sharing sites. It is
worth noting, though, that the top site among moderate users (not including
YouTube) is not a network site, but a video indexing and recommendation site,
ManiacWorld.

Light viewers, the research found, turned out to be the
heaviest consumers of media in general, challenging the conventional wisdom
that the heaviest viewers of online video would take that distinction.
Forty-six percent of light online-video viewers indicated they watch more than
13 hours of TV per week. By comparison, 39 percent of moderate video viewers,
and 30 percent of heavy video viewers, watched the same amount of TV.

"The difference in consumption levels was astounding,”
said Jarvis Mak, the VP of research and insight at Media Contacts. “The usage
differences are reminiscent of the early days of the Internet. However, the
networks' online distribution of first-run content will go a long way to
bridging the gaps between heavy, moderate and light viewers.

"To discover how best to reach and message online
different kinds of video viewers, we used the comScore data to further develop
proprietary segments: 'Content Explorers,' 'On Demanders,' 'Sight &
Sounders,' and 'Television Devotees,'" Mak continued. "Capitalizing
on the explosive growth of online video, especially as consumers have started
exploring media and entertainment options due to the recent writers' strike,
requires a deep understanding of the viewing audience driving the demand."

—By Ned Berke