Online video stealing viewers from TV
Last Updated: Monday, November 27, 2006 | 11:24 AM ET
CBC News
A new study out of Britain suggests the rise in online video viewing is coming at the expense of television time.
An ICM Research poll of 2,070 people for the BBC released Monday found 43 per cent of Britons who watch video on the internet or mobile devices at least once a week watch less television as a result. Only three per cent said they watched more television and 54 per cent saw no change in their viewing habits.
Only nine per cent of respondents claimed to view online video at least once a week, and only a third of respondents watch any online video at all.
But the poll found online and mobile viewing is rising, with three quarters of users saying they watch more than they did a year ago.
Online and mobile video is most popular among young people, with 28 per cent of respondents between the ages of 16 and 24 saying they watch at least once a week.
List of most viewed internet videos
The youthful viewership may also help explain the continuing popularity of a video clip featuring Quebec teenager Ghyslain Raza, also known as the Star Wars Kid.
Viral marketing company the Viral Factory listed the most viewed internet videos of all time on Monday, and Raza's embarrassing 2002 performance of light sabre moves using a golf ball retriever topped the list, with 900 million users viewing the clip.
Another teenager's attempt to lip synch a Romanian pop song was the No. 2 viral video. A Kylie Minogue lingerie ad, a 1970 clip of a whale exploding and an ad in which a fisherman fights a bear also made the top 10.
An earlier study conducted by the British Office of Communications on the television habits of British youth supported the ICM findings. According to the regulatory agency's study, the number of 16- to 24-year-olds watching television in an average day dropped 2.9 per cent from 2003 to 2005.
As the popularity of online video increases, so too has the attention businesses pay to the market.
Internet search leader Google helped turn online video mainstream with its acquisition of popular online video destination YouTube for $1.65 billion US in October.
A number of smaller companies in the competitive online video market also pay for content. Break.com announced on Sunday it would begin paying $400 per video, up from $250. Revver, another site, imbeds ads with their videos and then splits the revenue with their contributors.
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