Viewers abandoning traditional TV for Internet TV
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Aug 25, 2008 at 7:48am
Here’s another reason why Apple should consider beefing up the AppleTV as well as consider adding some television features to its Mac line: according to the latest research from media research firm Ipsos (as reported on May 30, 2008):
° The percentage of video viewed on a TV among video downloaders and streamers declined from 75 percent in February 2007 to 70 percent in February 2008.
° The percentage of total screen time captured by movie theaters also declined significantly in the past year.
° The percentage of video viewed on a computer nearly doubled its share (19 percent) with digital video consumers since early in 2007 (11 percent).
° Among the 52 percent of Americans age 12+ who have ever streamed or downloaded a digital video file online, about one out of every five hours spent watching movies, TV shows and/or other types of videos is done so on a computer.
The research shows that streaming video online has become an activity many Americans aren’t just experimenting with, but enjoy on a regular basis. Today, about half of all Internet users aged 12 and up have streamed a video file online in the past 30 days. The growing sophistication of home computers, as well as the ubiquity of high-speed Internet connections in the home and outside, really facilitated the experimentation process with the digital video medium, and subsequently caused many to adopt the computer as a channel they rely on for video entertainment.
The overall phenomenon of watching more video content on a computer isn’t isolated or driven by a few select demographic groups, but rather is relatively consistent across all age groups and genders. In contrast, watching video content on other portable devices is a niche activity for most adult digital video users—many of whom have invested in outfitting their living rooms with HDTVs and subscribe to cable or satellite television.
Teens aged 12 to 17 are the only age group that is watching a greater percentage of their video content on portable devices. Not surprisingly, teens also experienced the largest drop in the share of screen time they devote to the TV. However, what’s not known is whether their greater reliance on portable video devices is simply a life stage trend these younger digital video users will outgrow as they age.
“Macsimum News” is a proud supporter of Planet Gumbo, which feeds the hungry. We urge you to help them in their efforts.
Dennis Sellers Says:
Dave,
Yes, I did. But it’s now fixed. Thanks.
Dennis
Posted on August 25, 2008
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
dave Says:
Looks like somebody missed the closing tag for the url to ipsos.com…
Posted on August 25, 2008