Media Study Shows Where to Target Your Online Video Efforts

Confirming a trend you've likely been aware of, Interpret's New Media Measure study for the first quarter of 2010 shows that streaming video viewing is way up from the previous year. Consumers are streaming 12 percent more movies and 5 percent more TV shows. Streaming has become the dominant method of viewing video, as the rate for downloading programs has remained flat.

Interpret is an entertainment, media, and technology market research firm based in Santa Monica, California. Its quarterly New Media Measure study tracks behaviors, device ownership, attitudes, and product use.

Netflix was the big winner in the first quarter, increasing its share of the streaming video market by 36 percent over the same quarter in 2009. People are responding to its pay-one-price service, which offers unlimited streaming to a computer or connected television for $8.99 per month.

The study found that offering low-priced streams that are easy to access is the best way to combat piracy. Consumers will typically chose the legal option if it's easy and fairly priced. Interpret found that the rate of piracy for video (9 percent for movies and 7 percent for TV shows) is far below that for the music industry (20 percent).

Interpret's study also found that social networking has grown by 20 percent from the previous year, with Facebook as the leader, and that social networking is booming on mobile devices, up 36 percent. Free apps make up 80 percent of all mobile app downloads.

"New media behaviors such as social networking and online video consumption have true staying power," says Josh Bell, executive director at Interpret. "Moreover, consumers appear to be turning to legal modes of content distribution, suggesting consumers see tangible value in the experiences video content providers are offering."

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net