Online Video Viewership
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 12:04PM According to a recent comScore finding, the average U.S. online video viewer watched more than 5 hours of video online in February 2009. Of note is the jump in ranking of Hulu as a destination for online video consumption -- and more importantly -- premium content.
In February, Hulu jumped up to the #4 spot among the top online video properties. Google continued to hold the #1 spot with nearly 41% of the share of videos viewed with YouTube accounting for more than 99% of that (no surprise there). In a distant second and third, respectively, are Fox Interactive Media and Yahoo. I found it interesting that apparently so many people still watch videos on MySpace (a Fox Interactive Media property) that it keeps Fox ahead of Hulu (a joint venture between Fox and NBC/U).
Expect to see Hulu continue to rise in the rankings now that Disney is in talks with Hulu to air its content. Disney seems to be taking the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach with this. This means that Hulu will prospectively have 9 of the top 20 rated shows (w/o Mar 22), which is quite a feat, considering CBS alone holds the other 11 shows in that list. In one online destination (with a great user experience, by the way), you'll be able to watch such powerhouses as The Office, 30 Rock, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, House, 24, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, and the list goes on. Who needs a DVR?
CBS Interactive seems to be struggling with their online video property, TV.com. They currently have 0.9% of the viewing audience. I'm not a fan of the TV.com user experience, which is why I credit Hulu with its success. Long term, I expect CBS to bite the bullet and offer their content on Hulu. Let's wait and see.
cbs, comscore, disney, fox, hulu, mattsnod, myspace, youtube in Digital Marketing, Technology 
Reader Comments (5)
As a follow-up to this, Dave and Matt Show listener Megafan Brandon mentioned that he really wished he could get Hulu back on his AppleTV (via Boxee). In February, Hulu told Boxee that they have to disable the link to Hulu, thus disabling easy access to Hulu via the AppleTV and any Mac or Linux machines on which Boxee was installed. This upset many AppleTV and Boxee users, Megafan Brandon included.
I just wanted to point out that there is a hack for this problem, too, which is available here on Lifehacker.
I wasn't a big fan of Boxee on AppleTV. The GUI was extremely clunky and awful. Without Hulu it was pretty much worthless. I would love to see embedded Hulu clients like we're seeing with Netflix. Gimme one box that does both and I'd buy it in a second.
The prospect of having Hulu on an AppleTV (via Boxee) was what had me close to buying an AppleTV. I had heard other good reports on the Boxee UI, but I do trust your opinion as well.
On the one hand, I can see NBC's point in having them remove it. If they're going to have someone watching 30 Rock on their television, they want it to happen on Thursday nights on broadcast television where their ad revenues are so much higher. On the other hand, it's content ... delivery is now the commodity.
Boxee is built on XBMC, which was originally a hack of the first XBox. It feels like it to use it.
Won't be long before advertisers start to figure out that the CPM for the broadcast of that identical content is so much higher. Then consider the metrics available through web vs Nielsen guesstimates and you have to wonder when the system as we know it will implode.
I'm still waiting for that golden egg to pop out when marketers can get a hold of the true Web metrics that are sitting behind Web sites' servers. You'd think that would have opened up a realm of real-data opportunities, but no. The ad model is based on comScore and NetRatings, which are STILL based on projections through surveying. I've heard first-hand that those "ratings" are often way off -- both low AND high.
Someone needs to develop a Google Analytics-type plug-in that Web sites must use in order to advertise.