Innovative new television sets are selling like hot cakes with price tags starting in the $1000 range. Features like High Definition Television (HDTV), high resolution and enhanced pixels are major selling points for buyers. This is a strong indication that people have not stopped watching their favorite shows on their fancy TVs. But something has changed. Those same people are now watching broadcasts online as well. Social marketing through online videos, AKA Television 2.0, connects the community to the shows and enables interactivity.
According to The Conference Board and TNS, 16 percent of internet households in the US are streaming TV broadcasts online. In 2006, news programs accounted for approximately 63 percent of online content watched by Americans. There were around 47 percent of US online households watching entertainment programs online. In 2007, 44 percent of content watched online is entertainment programs, which matches the viewership of news programs. It is evident that the love for entertainment has had a large effect on online TV viewing. eMarketer projects that there will be 200 million broadband internet users by 2011, and 91 percent of those users will watch videos online.
There are definite perks to watching TV shows online. It enables people to view their programs at their convenience will limited commercial time. Paul Verna, senior analyst at eMarketer, doubts that online video will impact US TV viewing time. He predicts that both channels will grow at the same rate and online video will serve as a support tool and even complementary to mainstream TV. comScore’s analysis in March 2007 noted that Americans usually watch videos online from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on weekends, which works well with the standard TV primetime schedule of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weeknights.
A great example of this is the “30 Rock” show on NBC.com . If you missed an episode on TV, you can go to their website to load and view it. After a brief advertisement, you are able to enjoy the entire episode. There is even expanded content on the web, which encourages interaction and participation with the online community. This social element directly connects program watchers to the show, the actors and the general brand.
While these benefits are attractive, there are drawbacks to online videos. If many people are accessing the same online file, they are sucking up NBC.com’s bandwidth which in turn stalls the process. Similarly, if a user’s virtual memory can’t process all the info at the necessary speed, the viewing experience is slow. This cannot compare to the simplicity and immediate gratification of TV watching. However, this is soon to change as an increasing amount of people are using broadband internet. Pike and Fischer estimated that by the end of 2007, 58% of US households will have broadband.
Social media applications like Television 2.0 are increasing viewer capability to maintain their schedule while catching up on their favorite shows and interacting with fellow program lovers. It is easy to access, download and enjoy. Still, I agree with Verna; people are not going to trade in their 60 inch name brand TV for their laptop or desktop screens any time soon. There is still something to be said for the traditional viewing experience.
- Reem Abeidoh
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