Web video watchers hard to classify

Online video viewing habits vary dramatically from user to user

Research into the habits and mindsets of internet video users as they relate to online video, TV and advertising has revealed a wide disparity in consumption.

Viewing habits vary dramatically from user to user, according to a study by research firm comScore and media network Media Contacts.

The top 20 per cent averaged 841 minutes of online viewing per month, while moderate viewers (30 per cent) averaged 77 minutes and the lightest viewers (50 per cent) averaged just six minutes.

"The difference in consumption levels was astounding and is reminiscent of the early days of the internet," said Jarvis Mak, vice president of research and insight at Media Contacts.

"However, the networks' online distribution of first-run content will go a long way to bridging the gaps between heavy, moderate and light viewers."

Despite the differences in the amount of content consumed, YouTube remains a common thread in all segments.

Heavy video viewers mostly use niche video-sharing sites, each reaching fewer than one per cent of the total US web population.

By contrast, moderate viewers show a high propensity to view specific video content on broadcast TV sites rather than more general video-sharing sites.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the heaviest internet video users are likely to be the heaviest consumers of media in general, but the study found that light online video viewers are actually heavier TV consumers.

Around 46 per cent of this group indicated that they watch more than 13 hours of TV a week. By comparison, just 39 per cent of moderate video viewers and 30 per cent of heavy video viewers watched the same amount of TV.

"Capitalising on the explosive growth of online video requires a deep understanding of the viewing audience driving the demand," explained Mak.