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Online Video Popularity Still Climbing
Ant writes "Macworld reports that people in the U.S. have steadily increased the amount of time they spend watching videos online, as Google's YouTube remains by far their preferred video site, according to a study.
In July, almost 75 percent of U.S. Internet users watched videos online, up from 71.4 percent in March, according to comScore Networks. The monthly time spent watching videos went up to an average of 181 minutes per viewer in July from 145 minutes per viewer in March, according to comScore. In July, the average user watched 68 clips, up from 55 clips in March. Overall, almost 134 million U.S. Internet users watched a little over 9 billion video clips in July, up from 126.6 million people and a little over 7 billion clips in March."
I got a page saying "Error. Nothing to see here, please move along" when I clicked the link. Then I finally got here by clicking one of the tags and finding the article, then the link worked. What's that all about?
We are all well past the "Internet Age" hype. Video killed the radio star? How about Internet killed the TV/Movie star.
When customers don't get what they want, they'll look for a way to get it. And when somebody provides what the customers want, they'll buy it.
How much simpler could it be?
I want to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it, and I'll pay up to a couple bucks a day to get it. I don't want to wait, and I don't want alot of hassle. What we're seeing is the end of an era - the era of broadcast television. Broadcast television will wane, and the quality of online video developed under alternative business models will improve. (We hope - most of the YouTube content is either pirate or just awful to watch)
But the ability is there, and the public networks aren't (so far) willing to adapt. So they'll die.
How much simpler could it be?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
1. Get lots of venture capital, somehow.
2. Declare the site beta.
3. Allow people to upload videos as high as 18 megabits per second.
4. Wonder where all the venture capital went.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
OMG.. someone please post the Tourette's Guy videos!
"I hope this is the Puff Daddy version and not that Sting piece of SHIT!!!..." pause.. "AWWW FUCK!!!"
--- We need more Ron Paul!
I, for one, welcome our old eye cancer giving overlords!
The game.
while Netcraft doesn't confirm this.
It would be interesting to see how much of this is due to the (partial?) death of dial-up internet access. Is the rate of increase consistent with dialup->DSL/cable conversions? Even within the "broadband" realm, I'm much more likely to click a video link now that my DSL is 3 Mb compared to when it was 760Kb.
... also, I can kill you with my brain.
Because it's a slashdot reader's friday night!
*rimshot*
"When customers don't get what they want, they'll look for a way to get it. And when somebody provides what the customers want, they'll buy it."
I work for the Mafia, and my services are for hire. Who do you want whacked?
"I want to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it, and I'll pay up to a couple bucks a day to get it. "
Tivo loves you, man!
"But the ability is there, and the public networks aren't (so far) willing to adapt. So they'll die."
Yeah! Yeah! Don't get what you want. Everyone must die!
more like *rimjob*
"It would be interesting to see how much of this is due to the (partial?) death of dial-up internet access. "
Pfft! Partial death indeed. Broadband will always be paid for from discretionary income. As that decreases, so will people either stay with dial-up or drop broadband and move to dial-up. Guess who's economy is in trouble?
While Comcast's recent actions threaten to stifle innovation in this space, Netflix and Amazon Unbox will eventually win. Not to mention YouTube. What is interesting is that related industries such as video search engines and content producers like this will flourish.
I'd like to see some statistics on how many people upload videos vs. how many download/watch them.
2+2=5 for very large values of 2.
I want to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it, and I'll pay up to a couple bucks a day to get it.
You'll pay that couple of bucks a day, but not directly. Advertising budgets that used to go to broadcasters and printed material are now going to their online equivalents. You get to watch when you want and how you want and the actual artist gets their cut of advertising revenue the way Google does it. Others will do things the same way and everyone will win as things move closer to actual free market worth.
the quality of online video developed under alternative business models will improve. (We hope - most of the YouTube content is either pirate or just awful to watch)
"Awful" is a subjective opinion. What you don't like is something most other people prefer to what's being broadcast. If they did not have that preference, they would still be glued to the tube. Instead, they are taking pot luck from YouTube and being entertained with video picture quality far below ordinary.
Like you said, big median is screwed. The elimination of the last mile problem will really be their end as people actually get choices. Good riddance to corporate controlled news, endless crap sitcoms, laugh tracks, RIAA monopoly music and other shit that's been blasted through a tiny government approved and controlled channel. Most of it has been an embarrassing waste of a scarce public resource. There has been some great content that made it through the restrictions but it was all in spite of the system not because of it. Freedom is better.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Eyeballs == Advertising $
You can slip the product placement in wherever you like, just like they do now. You can put on banner ads, just like you do now. All of the conventional forms of advertising work. The biggest difference is that bandwith is much much cheaper than broadcast and physical media. If you P2P it out, your cost will be that much lower. If that does not add up to profit, I'm not sure what will.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
In other equally shocking news... The majority of online videos are pornography, fake web cam advertisements for pornography, and videos of people getting hit in the balls. The sky is still blue, and so are my balls.
At what point will people stop reporting that "more people are doing X and Y on the internet"? Yes, lots of people do things on the internet. It will grow as more people get online and connections get faster. It isn't really very interesting.
Looking at websites? Check.
Downloading music? Check.
Social networks online? Check.
Watching videos? Check.
Can we just presume that more people are doing whatever next comes along, and not keep reporting on it?
Between the falling angel and the rising ape
Only recently have content-producing companies, and TV channels started to offer their video content on-line (sometimes for free).
Only weeks ago was Flash with MPEG4+AAC beta announced. And only days ago was Silverlight 1.0 with WMV support announced.
I expect in the next 5 years we'll see a huge surge in online video as video content producers scramble to take a foot in this brand new market.
And I actually expect online video will outdo bittorrent traffic, since a large part of bittorent traffic now is actually various TV series and movies, things that will be legally available for streaming in the near future.
The big question mark is: what do ISP-s do about it. They can filter and slow down bittorrent traffic since the popular opinion is it consists mostly of illegal content (and it's mostly, though not entirely correct). They'll have a quite unique problem doing so with streaming media (and you can wrap streaming in HTTP traffic on port 80 too) when official distributors start streaming DVD or HD quality content as the rule, rather than the exception.
...these videos probably amount for 90% of that time:
http://www.clutterme.com/internetpeople
(not really a shameless plug since that page has nothing to do with my site)
ClutterMe.com - easiest site creation on the Net. Just click and type.
It shows that namebrand really does matter more than the video quality.
Some video site keep both FLV1 and FLV2 quality available to send based on the visitor's browser capabilities.
But youtube doesn't even bother and stores only FLV1.
You'd think after several years of high motion video on PCs we'd demand more than a 320x240 quarter-VGA box.
Check out TheHill88. Better that kids watch her than High School Musical 5.
Because now security cameras are being broadcast over the internet so that people can see that their home are still safe and sound. Not everything involves money, peace of mind: priceless.
in soviet russia, internet watches you wait....
Why would anybody prefer to watch what a big moloch with non-transparant choosing of content presents to you? Instead of the LIFE expressed by the multitude?
don't forget these "stats" come from Comscore who are the definition of a spyware company (they have tried rebranding as researchware , lol yeah right), any anti-virus worth its salt and every single anti-spyware app on the market would remove it and as most people (average joe) have them how can these stats be even trusted ?
perhaps they should say
every person infected with Comscore who is not running an antivirus or anti-spyware and running Windows....
He doesn't really 'rock' but I've always liked him. I'm rediscovering music videos at youtube, veoh and stage6.divx for music videos from around the world. Russian trance, jpop, cpop, kpop, European pop, 80's, 90's and just stuff I wouldn't have ever heard of. I'm learning guitar faster with lazyfret on youtube and there is also interesting anime and much more available. Who knew they even made videos any longer, who knew that Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries had a new album out and it sounds great. These services are reconnecting folks with the parts of culture they've disconnected from because of fragmentation and balkanization of interests combined with the lowest common denominator you find every cable network passing through so you get to where MTV and VH1 don't do music any longer. Long live Rick Astley!
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
I dont understand what is so special about YouToube, Google Video, etc. The only interesting pieces of video from these sites are illegal and disappear in a few days after they are posted. ALL LEGAL STUF POSTED IS USELESS JUNK.
Software pirates think that a piece of software is worth collecting not because it is useful but because getting it legally would cost a lot of money. The more expensive the more desirable, usefulness for the collectors is irrelevant; they gather software for collecting, not for using. Free software, no matter how useful, is not worth collecting because it is legally free. The same goes for youtoube, only illegal stuff is worth watching.
Beavis and Butthead died 11 years ago when that movie came out, MTV had to have committed suicide before that.
Some BitTorrent caching at the ISP level is already taking place: http://bramcohen.livejournal.com/29886.html ("Third"...)
In Soviet Russia, Website Videos You!
TRHOnline - Staggering Towards Brilliance
...then try out Miro.
http://getmiro.org/
I'll describe this FOSS program in terms Slashdotters will grok:
* RSS feed reader - video feeds
* with built-in video player (multi-format, based on the excellent VLC)
* can do various protocols incl. bittorrent
* The Guide has a catalog of tons of free feeds, organized by topic
* You can add feeds without the Guide
* Can handle subscriptions representing keyword search on sites like Youtube
So, as iTunes podcast is a kind of RSS reader, Miro is like iTunes podcast that adds a nice guide of general Internet content and Bittorrent distribution. Projects needing low-cost transport of high-quality video are encouraged to recommend Miro as their "torrent viewer". That, and the Guide has a growing catalog of some beautiful HD video feeds (under the 'HD' section).
They recently changed the name from "Democracy Player" and the software maturity is what I would call v0.99 late beta or RC1.
Help Me! I'm trapped in the tubes! Oh noes! Here comes a internet!