Less is More

Filed in archive Internet TV on September 6, 2006

Most people don't use the Internet to watch longer-form video content, according to a new poll of 3,000 Internet users by the Associated Press and AOL Video. I only hope that they did not pay too much money for that penetrating insight.

Although over half of respondents had watched video online, only 1 in 5 had downloaded a full-length movie or TV show, the poll revealed. The most popular online video content is news clips, with 72 percent of respondents saying they had watched one.

The poll also showed that ad support is the most popular model for online video: only 7 percent of viewers have paid to watch video content online, while almost three quarters said they prefer watching videos for free -- even if that meant some kind of advertising.

Finally, the AOL poll found the speed of Internet connection makes a big difference in overall usage: 46 percent of Internet users who have high-speed access watch online video at least once a week, but that number falls to 22 percent among dial-up users.