Video Content Consumption
Sleeping and Video Watching Hours to Match by 2013
With multiple channels – including the web, gaming consoles, and mobile phones in addition to traditional TV – available for consumers to savor video content, their daily hours for watching video will match their sleeping hours by 2013. This is according to a study “Multiplatform Video Report” covering American consumers released by Solutions Research Group.
The study found that an average American consumer aged 12 and older with Internet access now spends 6.1 hours daily with video-based entertainment, up from 4.6 in 1996. Of these 6.1 hours, 63.9% (nearly 4 hours per day) currently comes from traditional TV, including live, DVR, and video-on-demand viewing. Video games, web and PC video, DVDs, and video on mobile devices account for the balance.
TV accounted for a lower share of video-based entertainment among younger Americans, coming in at 42.4% among those 12-24 (vs. 63.9% total population average). There was also a significant difference between men and women, with TV accounting for 70.4% of women’s daily video-based entertainment diet, versus 57.7% for men. PC or online video use was similar, accounting for 10.1% of daily video time for men and 10.5% for women.
An interesting aspect of the findings was the different ‘prime time’ periods in evidence for various media platforms. For example, PC and web video achieved its highest share mid-day during the week (12.3% share) and it was lowest after 6 pm weekdays and weekends. Prime time for video gaming was Saturday mornings while mobile video peaked during weekday mornings.
Projections suggest that per capita time spent with PC, web, and mobile video will increase from just under 1 hour per day currently to nearly 2.9 hours by early 2013, based on factors that include greater access to and use of web video, significantly increased penetration for laptops, mobile video devices, and Internet-enabled devices such as the iPhone.
Total hours with video-based entertainment on all platforms is expected to expand nearly 35% to about 8 hours on average, as consumers use more screens in more places and video becomes ubiquitous on every screen at home and work and on-the-go. For context, this is close to the time spent sleeping nightly by an average American.
The report predicts that time spent with traditional TV will remain close to 4 hours per day, based on factors such as increasing DVR penetration, availability of more on-demand content, more live and event programming and changing demographics. The ratio of “linear” to “time-shifted” programming will continue to change in favor of time-shifting, however.
Finally, while daily time with TV will remain close to 4 hours, traditional TV’s share of the total video entertainment pie is projected to shrink from 63.9% today to 47.1% by 2013, given the overall increase in consumers’ total video-based entertainment consumption.
The findings come from the Multiplatform Video Report, part of an independent Digital Life America research program undertaken by Solutions Research Group. The current multiplatform use and share data are based on a survey of 1,014 online Americans aged 12 and older, in February 2008.
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