Will consumers unplug TV services for online video?

Video content will soon be available to watch on a variety of devices other than a television set, so will this push consumers to disconnect their satellite or cable services?

by Helen Leggatt

Leichtman Research Group’s recent research, Emerging Video Services II, shows that the number of adults with Internet access in their homes, that watch online video at least weekly, rose by just 6% in the past year to 31%.

Ten percent of the 1,250 respondents claimed to watch online video on a daily basis.

The growth in online video usage is most pronounced among the young with 42% of those aged 18-24 reporting that they watch video online at home at least weekly - up from 28% last year.

So will consumers be pulling the plug on their satellite and cable services any day soon? Not according to Leichtman Research Group’s research which found that over half of online video users spent 10 minutes or less watching online video and just 9% strongly agreed that they watch less television as a result of online content.

“As with so many things in consumer adoption, it's more about evolution than revolution,” said Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group, Inc., in an interview with VideoNuze earlier this year. “Basically what we're seeing is a market evolving. Increase in the number of broadband subscribers, increase in the content that's out there, and an increase in usage. But it's still just a small percentage compared to TV.”