AOL Releases Key Video Stats

AOL has released some great data from a survey they ran about online video and users of online video. The full release can be found on the AOL news site.

Some of the interesting stats from the release include:

• Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of online video users would prefer to watch an ad before a video in order to watch the video for free, while 23 percent say they'd rather pay for ad-free videos.
• One in ten online video users say that now that they can watch video online, they watch less television. Eighty-seven percent of online video viewers say their television viewing habits remain unchanged by the proliferation of online video.
• Men (48 percent vs. 32 percent of women), adults ages 18-34 (48 percent) and urbanites (46 percent) are most likely to watch video online at least once a week.

Most frequently viewed videos include:

• News: 72 percent
• Television or movie clips: 59 percent
• Music videos: 48 percent
• Sports highlights: 44 percent
• Amateur videos: 43 percent
• Concert highlights: 23 percent
• Full-length movies or TV shows: 22 percent
• Live sporting events: 17 percent
• Video podcasts: 17 percent
• Live concerts: 9 percent

Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President of AOL states, "There's no question that online video usage is growing faster than most predicted, particularly as more diverse, appealing and high quality branded video content is being made available on the Web."

Ok, so what's the net result?

• Users are willing to watch commercials to keep content free.
• High numbers of users turn to online video for news and television/movie clips
• My post about the death of the television may not be that far from a reality
• Half of all 18-34 year olds watch at least one online video a week. I would bet that number is a minimum of 10-20 videos.
• Do commercial videos (like those found on espn.com) count towards metrics since the user did not initiate them?
• As broadband and wi-fi become the norm around the world, I expect these video numbers to rise even further and, more importantly, even faster.

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