Report: US consumers choose streaming video

Television will never die but according to a recent report from Ipsos Media CT, streaming video continues to gain in popularity. The report finds that streaming video is now increasing faster than video downloads.

by Kristina Knight

Researchers with Ipsos found that about 57% of US consumers have streamed at least one online video (last 30 days) while only about 22% have downloaded a video. Year over year, streaming video has shown an increase of 50% while downloading video has shown an increase of less than 20%. The most likely culprit for streaming vs. downloading is that downloading usually has a pricetag attached and users can usually stream for free. Consumers are also leery of bogging down their hard-drives with downloaded content.

However, for long-form videos (movies, hour-long programs, etc.) downloading is still preferred. Consumers are streaming short programs such as sports highlights, shorter sit-coms and user generated content.

Researchers believe offering download trials could help movie studios and television networks continue to make themselves viable.

Brian Pickens, Senior Research Manager at Ipsos MediaCT said, "Consumers need that initial trial incentive, and offering movie downloads at a price lower than DVDs would help drive trial. While there may be a cannibalization concern for physical DVDs by lowering the price for online movie downloads, a strong demand for physical DVDs remains. The movie download option could prove to be a significant revenue source for the studios."