A Look at What Viewers are Watching Online

TV is still king among consumers, but online video continues to gain a foothold. Parks Associates recently analyzed the online video world and reports that roughly 40% of broadband households watch long-form video on a computer. And the amount of time watching video on a PC each week is substantial—about 4 hours.

 

Among “major cable,” TNT offers the most programming free within 24 hours of broadcast, Parks said. TBS, USA, FX and others are more limited, with the most popular series limited to clips or older eps.

 

Among what it calls “specialty cable,” MTV is the leader with most of its programming available for free via ad-supported streaming within 24 hours. Parks identifies Disney as very restrictive with free video limited for the most part to clips and older series, plus all video is heavily branded. Not quite as restrictive, but still limited in free video offerings are Discovery, TLC and Nick.

 

In the niche category, which includes nets like Food, Travel and Military, Parks found that online video clips are very limited and that very few shows are available for download for pay through iTunes or Amazon (which is more common in the other categories).

 

50% of viewers reported that they have watched more content on Hulu in the past year and 42% said they are streaming more movies on Netflix. At the same time, 30% reported that they are renting fewer movies at a rental store and 22% have decreased their purchases of DVD movies. Netflix, followed closely by Hulu, rated as the top premium online video service. iTunes was a distant third.

 

Among TV shows being watched online, dramas (30%) and situational comedies (29%) ranked highest followed by news (23%) and reality (21%).