Online web viewing is at an all time high. Why are more people watching video on the Internet?
I find myself watching less television of late. In fact, for the first time in my life, I’m okay without cable.
My change of heart isn’t because I’m graduating college in a week and am maturing. Definitely not. And its not because I’m watching less TV. Actually, I may even be watching more.
I don’t need television anymore, because I have the Internet. I find this trend is common among my peers– why pay for cable when there’s a limitless amount of video online?
ComScore, an Internet data research company, recently released its October 2011 statistics for online video, and the results are astounding. A record 46.2 billion videos were viewed in the month alone by over 180 million U.S. Internet users, well over half of the U.S. population.
Perhaps the most shocking number is the amount of time spent watching Internet video. The average user spent 21.4 hours during the month of October watching YouTube, Hulu and other video websites. Nearly an entire day!
Just two years ago, only 12 billion videos were being viewed per month, about a quarter of the number that was viewed last month.
Online video growth is evident and impressive. If I missed a show, I can find it online. If my favorite team isn’t playing on TV, I can find it online. If I want to be entertained, I can find it online.
Online advertisement views are also up. 7.5 billion online video ads were viewed in the month of October.
We are not only becoming used to watching video and advertisements online, were becoming dependent on it. The Internet allows us to view video virtually anywhere, our computers, portable devices and phones. And looking at the video below, that’s only expanding.
In today’s world, a website is not complete without video.
Would you rather give up cable or online video?