A report from Knowledge Networks indicates that more people are consuming video from TV networks online, and that their tolerance for pre-roll or embedded ads within that video has not diminished since 2006. Knowledge Networks’s most recent TV’s Web Connections report demonstrates that more people are choosing to consume TV network video through free or pay-for-content websites than ever before.

The new report is the fifth in a series examining the links between “traditional” television viewing and TV networks’ digital extensions. Based on 1,509 interviews with consumers aged 13 to 54, the new research shows that:

• Roughly one in three (35 per cent) Internet users said they watched streaming video content that originated from a TV network between September and November 2010 – up from 29 per cent in the same period in 2006;
• The originating network’s Website is a source of video for roughly 6 in 10 (57 per cent) users of streaming video, followed by non-network sites (45 per cent);
• More than one quarter (28 per cent) of network streamers watch pre-roll/embedded ads within that video – the same proportion as in 2006 – and another 48 per cent of streamers still report listening to the advertising audio, even if they don’t watch the ad

“Advertisers and TV networks should be pleased,” said David Tice, Vice President and Managing Director, Client Service, at Knowledge Networks. “Online viewing of their assets is growing apace, with little indication of increased frustration with the advertising load. Consumers continue to accept some level of advertising as an appropriate quid pro quo, boding well for the continuation of ad-supported online models – where the content has clear value and appeal.”

The new report also shows that 17 per cent of those who watch streaming or downloaded network video – 5 per cent of the total 13-to-54 population – say they have reduced or eliminated regular TV service in the past year because of their Internet-enabled viewing. This is up from nine per cent of streaming/download viewers in 2009 (or three per cent of the total population).

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research, Research Library