South African broadcasters preparing to enter the area of online television broadcast will be gratified by the findings of a new US survey. According to a study from The Conference Board and TNS, online TV viewing has doubled in the last two years, with nearly one-fifth of American households who use the Internet watching content on the web.
TV channel websites (65 percent) and YouTube (41 percent) are the leading destinations for online content, the report reveals. Other services used for access include iTunes, Hulu, file-sharing sites, social-networking sites and Limewire. The report found that few consumers are willing to enroll in pay per download and subscription services.
Viewers are flocking to the Internet because they want to watch content on demand, and so that they can avoid commercials and watch TV on the go. Nearly 72 percent of online households log on for entertainment purposes on a daily basis, and one in ten list entertainment as the most important Internet activity.
The leading genres are news (43 percent), drama (39 percent), sitcom/comedy (34 percent), reality shows (23 percent) and sports (16 percent), followed by user-generated content (15 percent). Of online viewers, 90 percent watch content at home, and 15 percent watch Internet broadcasts at work.
Online streaming was the most popular method for Internet viewing, at 68 percent, while 38 percent of respondents cited the use of free downloads.
