comScore and Media Contacts showcased the results of a proprietary study of the online video audience at a Video Symposium in New York yesterday. The research was designed to understand the consumption habits and mindsets of Internet video users as they relate to online video, TV, and advertising and content across both media. The results revealed differences in orders of magnitude: the heaviest viewers (top 20 percent of viewers) averaged 841 minutes of online viewing per month, while moderate viewers (next 30 percent) averaged 77 minutes, and the lightest viewers (bottom 50 percent) watched just 6 minutes each.

    Time Spent Watching Online Video by Viewer Segment
    October 2007
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source:  comScore/Media Contacts Custom Study

    Online Video Viewer Segments                     Average Minutes per Month
    Heavy Viewers (Top 20%)                                                841
    Moderate Viewers (Next 30%)                                             77
    Light Viewers (Bottom 50%)                                               6

"The difference in consumption levels was astounding. The usage differences are reminiscent of the early days of the Internet," said Jarvis Mak, VP of Research and Insight at Media Contacts. "However, the networks' online distribution of first-run content will go a long way to bridging the gaps between heavy, moderate, and light viewers."

Heavy Viewers Spend Time on Niche Video Sites

YouTube is the common thread among the heavy, moderate, and light segments -- it is the top video site for all three and reaches the most overall video viewers (54 percent reach). Distinctive behavior for heavy video viewers is found by looking at the top indexing sites for this audience, revealing mostly niche video-sharing sites, each reaching less than 1 percent of the total U.S. Web population.

    Top Indexing Sites Among Heavy Viewers
    October 2007
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore/Media Contacts Custom Study

    Online Video Site                                  Composition Index*
    Ouou.com                                                         460
    MegaVideo.com                                                    457
    Youku.com                                                        449
    zSHARE                                                           448
    Tudou.com                                                        447
    *Composition Index = Site Reach of Heavy Video Viewer/Site Reach of Typical Video Viewer x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

Moderate Viewers Enjoy Specific Online TV Content By contrast, moderate viewers show a high propensity to view specific video content on broadcast TV sites, including WorldNow (ABC), CBS TV Local, ABC Daytime, Scripps TV, and CMT, rather than frequenting more general video-sharing sites.

    Top Indexing Sites Among Moderate Viewers
    October 2007
    Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
    Source: comScore/Media Contacts Custom Study

    Online Video Site                                  Composition Index*
    ManiacWorld                                                       201
    Glumbert                                                          175
    WorldNow (ABC)                                                    173
    CBS TV Local                                                      172
    ABC Daytime                                                       170
    Scripps TV Station Group                                          169
    CMT                                                               168
    *Composition Index = Site Reach of Moderate Video Viewer/Site Reach of Typical Video Viewer x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

Light Online Video Viewers are Heavy TV Viewers

The conventional wisdom says that the heaviest users of the digital channel are likely to be the heaviest consumers of media in general. However, the study found that light online video viewers are actually heavier TV consumers, with 46 percent of this group indicating they watch more than 13 hours of TV per week. By comparison, just 39 percent of moderate video viewers and 30 percent of heavy video viewers watched the same amount of TV.