Report: Interest in online video up, channel loyalty down

April 21, 2009 | Terrence Russell | Comments | |

Maybe Hulu’s expensive Superbowl ad wasn’t such a bad idea. Consumer interest in computer-based television viewing is on the rise, according to a recent study from consulting firm Accenture. Furthermore, as the number of ways to watch TV expands, consumers are caring less about channel loyalty and more about ease of access for their favorite shows.

Overall, Accenture’s report found that television viewership is quickly splintering across a number of platforms like computers, phones, and set-top boxes. But in spite of this trend, viewership on all platforms (including the good old boob tube) is actually up. Online video hubs like YouTube and Hulu have also grown in appeal, as 74 percent of the study’s 14,000 respondents said they would enjoy watching TV via the computer. This increase not only represents a 13 percent bump year-over-year, but also the growth potential of the platform. As more and more video hubs net premium content deals, it seems likely that consumer interest in online viewing will continue to rise.

Surprisingly, Accenture’s respondents also expressed a lack of loyalty towards branded channels. Put simply, this means viewers were fiercely loyal to their favorite shows, but less loyal towards a show’s parent channel. Given the plethora of viewing outlets available to consumers (broadcast, online, mobile, cable provided on-demand, etc), and the myriad pay options available for these services (subscription, ad-supported, pay-to-play) this actually makes sense. As video distribution outlets pop up left and right, there’s basically a non-broadcast option available for everyone.

Case in point — if I wanted to catch up on NBC’s “30 Rock,” I could always watch it broadcast or jet over to the heavily-branded NBC.com. But why bother, when I can throw the episodes into a queue of non-NBC shows on Hulu, or stream it without commercials from Netflix, or even download it to my iPod via iTunes? Not only do those three options cut the majority of NBC’s branding out of the loop, but they’re also…well, much more convenient (at least for my lifestyle).

Sure, if this trend continues then networks’ long term branding efforts could take a hit. But that’s a small price to pay compared to no one watching their shows at all.

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About the Author, Terrence Russell

Terrence writes about online video and digital media licensing for Venture Beat. When he isn't binging on the newest television series to hit the web, Terrence contributes to WIRED Magazine and Wired.com.

  • It will continue to rise as, people become more and more busy and the convenince of watching your fav show on your own time is just unbeatable
  • Fitness Video Guy
    I am a content partner on YouTube and I generate millions of views on my original videos each month. I have been thinking for sometime that eventually that the large video portals will get down to signing premium partners to an exclusive deal. I'm not talking about NBC or other studio's either - but rather indie's like myself who have a large loyal following and deliver the eyeballs day in day out. When the video portal wars really start to heat up, eventually it will come down to the content - and not just studio content and TV shows. I would gladly stop uploading via TubeMogul to every portal out there if YouTube cut us a more lucrative deal and actually helped promote us like the valuable property we are. Imagine if they signed the top 100 - 150 partners to exclusive deals - which included them removing their content from all of the other sites. These shows represent tens of millions of daily views and millions of loyal fans. There are also web sites associated with these shows that could serve ads etc. They could make this move with promotion guarantees and a larger cut of the adsense pie. Creators would fall over themselves to compete to get into this program - and the result would be higher quality UGC.