Study Proves Unlike TV Online Video Is Now Watched All Day – at Home or at Work

Today I have received the results of an interesting study in my inbox that demonstrates a few interesting facts about online video. And the most interesting discovery is that online video has become so popular that people watch it everywhere – equally at home and at work.

The study has been carried out by a number of companies with all of them having at least some interest in the online video market: Yahoo! Inc., Interpret LLC, Havas Digital, Warner Bros. Media Research, and PHD. It is obvious that their goal was to find out the most profitable strategy to provide advertisers with the most appealing strategy of using video services online.

But the results are quite amazing and they should probably change the minds for many marketers and media buyers regarding online video. So unlike the situation with traditional TV where there are spikes at the primetime hours from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., online video is equally watched day and night by 70% of people. The only exception here is dinnertime when people tend to leave their computers and go to grab some food. Dinnertime is also quite lazy while the two most significant spikes are from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. (when everyone is supposed to be working, right?) and from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. (when it is normal to spend some time in front of one’s computer watching something funny after a busy day working).

Another interesting habit that consumers have developed regarding online video is sharing. As many as one third of all the people watching online video (at home or in the office) will share a video with their friends or family. Now when was the last time you called your friend on the phone when saw something funny on TV suggesting that he turns the TV on as well for a joint watching session?

So it obvious that online video is already demonstrating some important advantages over traditional TV advertising. And here one conclusion is pretty obvious: while it is hardly reasonable to drop an advertising campaign scheduled to run in primetime on TV, advertisers should probably consider shifting from other hours on TV to online video websites where consumers tend to spend their time even when they are supposed to work (and obviously have no access to television).

In fact, I myself have no boss to watch me yet I never seem to have enough time to be able to spend at least some time watching a funny video or show online. So my guess is that people who can afford watching videos during their working hours must be either very well off or have bosses who pay them enough and also let them entertain themselves whenever they want to. To me this sounds like a perfect consumer profile so if you run a company that targets people who can afford not working during their working hours, go and advertise your products or services during the daytime on online video services – they are full of your consumers at the time.