Online video 'eroding TV viewing'

[Sash]

The online video boom is starting to eat into TV viewing time, an ICM survey of 2,070 people for the BBC suggests.

Some 43% of Britons who watch video from the internet or on a mobile device at least once a week said they watched less normal TV as a result.

And online and mobile viewing is rising - three quarters of users said they now watched more than they did a year ago.

But online video viewers are still in the minority, with just 9% of the population saying they do it regularly.

Another 13% said they watched occasionally, while a further 10% said they expected to start in the coming year.

The success of sites such as YouTube over the past year has helped open the door for those who want easy ways to find, watch and share videos over the internet.

The UK is not yet as advanced as the US, where hit TV shows are routinely available from networks' websites and services like iTunes.

But it is catching up, with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all planning to offer most of their shows on demand on the internet from the end of this year or the start of 2007.

In the survey, one in five people who watched online or mobile video at least once a week said they watched a lot less TV as a result. Another 23% said they watched a bit less, while just over half said their TV viewing was unchanged. Some 3% said online video inspired them to watch more TV.

Online and mobile video is far more popular among the young, with 28% of those aged 16-24 saying they watched more than once each week.

An average of 10% aged 25-44 were net video regulars, with that figure falling to just 4% of over-45s.

Earlier this year, media regulator Ofcom said the number of 16 to 24-year-olds watching TV in an average day had dropped 2.9% between 2003 and 2005.

Comedian Ricky Gervais, whose audio and video podcasts have become hits on the web, said amateur video would never replace TV - but broadcasters would harness the power of the internet.

"You can't knock up an episode of The Sopranos or 24 on a little handheld digital camera," he told the BBC News website.

"I don't think you'll ever be able to sidestep TV or DVD. But TV companies will embrace it."

The choice offered by new platforms was "exciting", he said, and any future developments depended on how many people started using the technology.

"I'm sure when the BBC first launched, they were going: 'Ah, not many people have got tellies. Who's watching this?'

"So it's good to get your act together. And then people catch up with the know-how and the means to watch it."

The first award ceremony for web-only video, the Vloggies, was held in San Francisco at the start of November.

Alive in Baghdad, a site featuring videos of real Iraqis telling their own stories, won the top award.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,008 adults aged 18+ recruited from the ICM online panel between 17-19 November. They also interviewed a random sample of 1,062 people aged 16+ by telephone.

Panellists were recruited from across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

[Detomah]

For me it is dead simple...

32" TV is better than 19" or smaller monitor every single time, so the only vids I would watch on the computer or handheld would be if no TV was within reachable distance.

I have a proper stereo for playing my music on, so would never use an mp3 player at home.

I have free a landline phone, so would never use a mobile in the house.

I can understand for those doing a lot of travelling, but to me it's just more comercialised bull that is making more and more people feel the need to have radio, tv, video and gaming with them 24/7 no matter where they are...

I mean, I don't care what anyone says, there is nothing ruder than sitting in a pub with mates and most of the night being taken up by them sitting pressing buttons on a mobile phone, having more of a conversation with someone else via text than with the person sat right next to them. I really can imagine two people sat there silently not speaking to each other at all, yet they are sending text messages to each other over their phones.

[Tagred]

i watch far less tv now than ever, if theres something i want to watch i usually watch it on a webcast or record a programme so i can watch it when i want.

The net pc's and TV are all merging technologies, i would bet that soon, traditional braodcasts will be a thing of the past and it will be tv on demand

[Detomah]

Originally Posted by Tagred

i would bet that soon, traditional braodcasts will be a thing of the past and it will be tv on demand

I'd take that bet any day of the week.

I can't for one single minute see soapaholics and reailtyfreaks not being glued to their godbox for their daily fix when it shows first time, I means theres people that postpone weddings and all kinds of crap because it would interfere with their planned viewing and they like it that way...

[meow]

Originally Posted by Detomah

For me it is dead simple...

32" TV is better than 19" or smaller monitor every single time, so the only vids I would watch on the computer or handheld would be if no TV was within reachable distance.

I have a proper stereo for playing my music on, so would never use an mp3 player at home.

I have my video and audio in and out routed to my tv/hifi.
most cards have vivo these days.

I realy need a new tv my 25" crt box is showing its age.
wish they did std format large screens. most things I watch would have borders at each end wich wld annoy me I think.

I was hoping to record more stuff off tv with my pc and play it back with no ads etc but the software for it kinda sucks, maybe new cards will be beter.

I have cable tv so missing a program isnt an issue cos it'l be repeated dozens of times.

I think adverts kill tv for me and im sure most people agree, yet if tv is to go this way there needs to be some way to channel money to the people who make the programs.

TV on demand is the future I think, but at the moment it is kinda limited to premium films, at least on NTL anyway, I wana be able to watch whatever I want whenever I want but just pay a small fee for a month, at £5 per item im not gona be interested, and definatly without adverts !

[MaKo]

Yeah, i'd imagine that soon enough the traditional TV will become a thing of the past, and an all-round monitor of large size and HD capacity will kind of combine the two.