ON: Frequent YouTube Visitors Watch Less Television

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February 8, 2007

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4 min read

A recent Harris Poll of 2,309 U.S. adults, of whom 363 are
frequent YouTube viewers, conducted online by Harris Interactive between
December 12 and 18, 2006, found that almost one in three of these frequent
YouTube users say they are watching less TV as a result of the time they spend
there. However, 73 percent of frequent YouTube users say they would visit the
site less if it started including short video ads before every clip. 42 percent
of online U.S. adults say they have watched a video at YouTube, and 14 percent
say they visit the site frequently.

Of all frequent YouTube users:

66% claim they are sacrificing other activities when on
YouTube
36% say their visits to the site are most likely to have
been at the expense of visiting other websites
32% say their time spent watching TV is next most likely to
have taken a hit
20% think that YouTube also pre-empts email and other online
social networking
19% defer work/homework
15% aren't playing video games
12% are not watching DVD(s) and not spending time with
friends and family in person

YouTube usage is greatest among the group already hardest to
reach through television advertising: young males. 76% of 18 to 24 year old
males say they have watched a video at YouTube, and 41% visit YouTube
frequently.

YouTube and all streaming bradband content ...has emerged as a major force in, and problem for, the
traditional entertainment industry. Not only is YouTube using a lot of their own
content to steal the eyeballs they want the most, the site has provided a
launching pad to wholly new forms of user-generated video entertainment that are
gaining popularity quickly.

In the last year, TV networks have successfully experimented
with airing of TV episodes with commercials on their websites. Nearly as many
online adults (41%) say they have watched a video at a TV network website as
they have at YouTube (42%). It seems like TV networks can get away with
advertising more easily. Nearly three-quarters of adults who frequently visit
YouTube say they would visit it a lot (31%) or a little (42%) less often if a
short commercials before every clip were included.

Consumers as a rule are not averse
to watching commercials online in order to catch an episode of a TV show they
would otherwise miss. Yet those who are accustomed to finding and watching
everything for free at YouTube may have developed a very different set of
expectations for the site.

Online Video Viewership By U.S. Adults (% of Respondents; Multiple Response OK)
*Ages*
	*Adults*	*18 to 24*	*25 to 29*	*30 to 39*	*40 to 49*	*50 to 64*	*65 and over*
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Watched TV Online	74	85	87	76	78	62	56
Watched TV on:
YouTube	42	73	55	44	45	23	13
TV network	41	35	51	39	47	39	31
News site	35	27	40	36	42	32	32
Yahoo	25	30	33	26	29	18	13
Google	24	38	30	22	24	19	14
MySpace	19	45	33	19	16	7	3
iTunes	7	16	9	8	5	3	1
Somewhere else	19	19	15	24	19	17	16
Never watched video online	26	15	13	24	22	38	44
Source: The Harris Poll, January 2007

Online Video Viewership By U.S. Male Adults (% of Respondents; Multiple Response OK)
*Ages*
	*Males*	*18 to 24*	*25 to 34*	*35 to 49*	*50 to 64*	*65 and over*
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Watched TV Online	77	86	85	81	66	66
Watched TV on:
YouTube	47	76	53	53	29	15
TV network	43	37	47	49	40	36
News site	38	28	46	41	33	39
Yahoo	31	37	33	35	25	17
Google	31	50	31	28	25	19
MySpace	20	41	25	20	10	3
iTunes	8	17	9	8	4	1
Somewhere else	24	24	29	25	20	18
Never watched video online	23	14	15	19	34	34
Source: The Harris Poll, January 2007

Online Video Viewership By U.S. Female Adults (% of Respondents; Multiple Response OK)
*Ages*
	*Females*	*18 to 24*	*25 to 34*	*35 to 49*	*50 to 64*	*65 and over*
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Watched TV Online	70	85	85	70	58	45
Watched TV on:
YouTube	36	69	52	33	17	9
TV network	38	32	47	38	37	24
News site (e.g. CNN.com)	32	25	35	37	31	23
Yahoo	18	20	28	20	11	8
Google	17	22	23	17	12	9
MySpace	18	49	28	13	4	3
iTunes	6	15	9	4	2	2
Somewhere else	14	12	11	17	14	13
Never watched a video online	30	15	15	30	42	55
Source: The Harris Poll, January 2007

Time Spent On YouTube By U.S. Adults Having Ever Watched A Video On YouTube
	*% of YouTube Viewers*
Uses YouTube Frequently	33%
More than 2 hours a week	2
1-2 hours per week	7
Frequently, but less than 1 hour per week	24
Only visited YouTube once or a few times	67
Source: The Harris Poll, January 2007

Time Spent Doing Other Things As Result Of Time Spent At Youtube (% of Respondents frequently viewing YouTube; Multiple Response OK)
	% of *Frequent YouTube Viewers*
Spending Less Time on something because of YouTube viewing (all respondents)	66%
Spending Less Time:
Using other websites	36
Watching TV	32
Emailing, chatting online, blogging, etc	20
Working or doing homework	19
Playing video games	15
Spending time in person with friends/family	12
Watching videos on DVD	12
Reading magazines/newspapers	11
Talking to other people on the phone	9
Going to the movies	7
Exercise	1
Other	2
Not spending less time doing anything because of time at YouTube	34
Source: The Harris Poll, January 2007