Well, people are not bored with online video. In a short month, video usage jumped back up in February, slightly higher than December. Silicon Alley Insider reports the topline Nielsen VideoCensus info for the last three months, including avergage time spent viewing per month:
December - 6.2 billion/130 mins
January - 5.9 billion/124.4 mins
February - 6.3 billion/130 mins
At the same time, Nielsen broadcast TV ratings were down 20% in February, perhaps finally due to the effects of the writers strike and lack of original programming on TV. My family, like most I believe, were tuned in many nights in a row for all the American Idol shows. Will online viewers be as loyal to their web shows as they are to their TV shows. An these usage numbers need to be dissected further to determine what types of video are of most interest.
I am a fan of short form video on the web, but I wonder if the low barrier to entry will simply create more glut and less quality. Will the 80/20 rule apply and the vast majority of views come from aggregators like Hulu, Joost, You Tube, and perhaps also broadcast websites. Or will the glut of bad video create dissatisfaction which in turn causes people to start to turn off online video for other activities like gaming. All bets are on...
