Late yesterday, measurement specialist comScore, issued a research paper titled "The U.S. Total Video Report" that looks at shifting TV viewing habits in the digital age. There's little doubt that American's viewing patterns are quickly changing, and our youth are leading the way. The study – The U.S. Total Video Report, which tabulated results from 1,159 respondents in August – found that Millennials (adults 18 -34), watch original TV shows on digital platforms one-third of the time. ComScore notes that the older the viewer, the more likely to watch on a TV set. In other bad news for TV broadcasters, comScore found that 1 in 6 millennials hadn't watched an original series on a TV set in the past month. Instead, they're getting their video from set-top boxes such as Roku and Apple TV, and game consoles.
Unsurprisingly, Millennials are also more likely to be cord-nevers or cord-cutters and they are more likely to time-shift their viewing: 46 percent of them time-shift shows, while only 35 percent of those 35 to 54 do so. Among other findings, consumers who subscribe to paid digital video services are more likely to binge-view TV shows over a monthly period – 87% vs. 69%. TV via the DVR (43%) is the preferred binge-viewing platform, followed by the TV via VOD (19%); Internet connected TV devices (12%); live TV – a category that includes reruns or marathons from MVPDs – (11%); tablets (4%), desktops/laptops (3%); and smartphones (2%).
While comScore's results are interesting, their methodology and approach called Total Video to track unduplicated audience metrics across platforms has some flaws. ComScore surveyed 1,159 viewers with an online questionnaire, so those surveyed are all active internet users. The report is available for free download (registration required). MORE: TechCrunch 10/14/14 - Netflix Leads In U.S. Digital Video Subscriptions In Home And Among Millennials by Ingrid Lunden
Happy New Year readers! Online video may be a hot topic and increasing in popularity as are VOD services however DVR penetration in U.S. television households will continue to expand, nearly doubling over the next five years, according to a new report from market-analysis firm JupiterResearch. Read more in this article from ContentAgenda.com
MultiChannel News reports that in beta testing from Rentrak Corp. is a new video-on-demand measurement application that will deliver details about viewing durations and overall impressions delivered by TV advertisements embedded into on-demand viewing sessions. The “AdEssentials” product is aimed at providing more context around viewing behavior associated with the nascent on-demand advertising category, which poses challenges because viewers can usually fast-forward through commercials.Senior VP Cathy Hetzel says the new tools also will divulge commercial views by time of day and will display ZIP-code level demographics. She sees some creativity emerging in the on-demand advertising space as sponsors figure out ways to integrate with the medium. One finding: placing 15-second “bumper” spots preceding on-demand programs seems to ward off fast-forwarding, presumably because viewers figure skipping the abbreviated messages isn’t worth the bother. Rentrak already tracks on-demand viewing metrics for cable programmers and MSOs including Comcast Corp., but the new product will focus on advertising instead of program viewing.
Scarborough Research released a report on VOD Users. The analysis found that today's VOD Users hail from upscale, young families and that across the US 7% of consumers live in a household that used VOD during the past month. Here a general profile of the current VOD user:
27% more likely than all consumers to be ages 18-24
20% more likely to have two or more children in the household
27% more likely than all consumers to be African-American
Two times as likely to have an annual household income of 150k+
50% more likely to spend 20 or more hours online weekly
27% more likely to cite reality programs as a TV genre that they typically watch
24% more likely to tune in to music
22% more likely to watch News magazines
21% more likely to watch science fiction
18% more likely to watch dramas
"Consumer usage of VOD services is gaining momentum across the country and marketers are seeking ways to use it to their advantage," said Carol Edwards, vice president, cable services, Scarborough Research and Arbitron. "As VOD providers seek to broaden their distribution of services and present this as a new advertising platform, understanding VOD users' lifestyles, demographics, television viewing habits, and spending patterns, will enable them to enhance their offering for the consumer and for the advertiser."
DVR vendor/service provider, TiVo, which helped popularize DVR technology among the general public, making it possible for TV viewers to skip commercials, thinks it has a new way to get customers to watch ads. TiVo is launching Product Watch, a VOD service that enables advertisers to reach TiVo subscribers who are actively looking for specific products through targeted video advertising content. The ads/shows will range in length from a minute to an hour and will from over 70 advertisers and around 100 major brands. Companies that have signed up for TiVo Product Watch at launch include General Motors, Sony Pictures, Lending Tree and Kraft Foods, each of which, TiVo says, will be the "premium" advertiser for its respective category. Link(s): Zatz Not Funny Blog – Tivo Launches Product Watch, CigaOM Blog – TiVo’s Adwords for Tivo, WSJ.com – Tivo Users can soon search for Ads
