Online video is not cannibalizing TV

Inspired by Nielson

A few weeks ago, IBM released a report showing 36% of people watched significantly less TV as a result of their online video viewing. Their study was based on 2,800 people polled across six countries.

A more recent report from Nielsen, however, reveals the opposite: TV viewership is not declining, but is in fact at peak levels. "The new report from the media analysts at Nielsen found that video viewing across all three screens - TV, Internet, and mobile - increased from last year. As of the third quarter 2008, the average person in the U.S. watched approximately 142 hours of TV in one month. In addition, people who used the Internet were online 27 hours a month, and people who used a mobile phone spent 3 hours a month watching mobile video," summarizes Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb.

It is important to note that the Nielsen study polls people across the US only.

Perez goes on to emphasize that TV-networks would make a mistake in not making their videos available online. "Viewing has increased on all three screens. That means that even though TV viewing is an all-time high, both mobile viewing and online videos are seeing a surge as well," write Perez. "If anything, that should be a huge encouragement to the industry as it proves that, not only does online and mobile video not detract from TV viewing, there's an opportunity to monetize all three screens for record amounts of income too."