Online Video Viewing Soars August 4th, 2009
Regina Hopper

Whether you’re surfing the Internet at work or home, online video viewing has quickly become a popular American pastime—now even surpassing social networking.  Two recent studies released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project chart the rapid rise of this technology and the forces driving its adoption—most notably broadband.  Here are a few highlights from Pew’s ‘online video’ and ‘video sharing’ studies:

Exponential Growth.  Since 2006, Pew reveals that online video viewing has nearly doubled.  What’s driving this trend?  Broadband is a key catalyst of adoption, the study says, with 74% of broadband users watching or downloading videos online.  Growth is up among all Internet users too, with approximately 62% of adults enjoying online videos, a significant jump from the 33% who were watching in December 2006.

Outpacing Other Internet Activities.  Just how popular is online video viewing?  Pew finds that today’s video viewing habits even outpace social networking (46% of adult Internet users are active on these sites), podcast downloading (19% of Internet users), and the use of micro-blogging sites like Twitter (11% of Internet users).

Adoption Demographics.  While the number of adults watching online video has grown exponentially, Pew confirms that online video is predominant among 18-29 year olds; this group has a “near-universal” adoption rate of 89%, and 36% of this age group report watching online video on a daily basis.

Online T.V. and Movies.  In our hectic, modern lives, the watch-when-you-want-it mentality has taken root.  Viewing television and movies online has never been easier, or more convenient—and free professional content has made this area of Internet viewing a go-to entertainment experience for a third of Internet users.

Whether watching news, tuning into television shows, or sharing a good laugh, online videos are captivating Americans across demographics and in growing numbers—a trend that will only increase as broadband speeds more opportunities nationwide.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Benefits of Broadband, Broadband Now. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.