Web Users Watching Full TV Episodes Surges: Survey

The number of Web surfers watching full episodes of TV shows streamed online by the respective broadcast and cable networks has doubled over the past two years.

One in five Web surfers (21%) say they’re watching full episodes, compared to 10% two years ago, according to results of a study released by Knowledge Networks.

Two-thirds of those respondents say they expect to see their favorite TV shows online. That expectation includes a predictably high percentage (66%) of teen Web surfers and a surprisingly large segment (57%) of surfers age 50 to 54.

Use of third party sites—particularly www.Hulu.com—to view video has also doubled year-to-year, from 14% to 28% of Web surfers.

“It’s really been the big difference,” said David Tice, vice president of client service at Knowledge Networks, of Hulu.com.

But the majority (68%) of viewers age 18-34 – the sweet spot demographically for advertisers—watch TV video streams on network sites. 

A vast majority (86%) of those viewing the video streams say they’re more engaged with the shows they’re watching. And 66% of those viewers say they’re more likely to consider purchasing products from the sponsoring brands, compared to 58% in 2006.

“We’ve seen the receptivity to sponsors of streaming video increasing over all three waves that we’ve done this,” Tice said.

The current survey, conducted online in November 2008 among 1,900 Web users pre-selected through a random phone survey, is the third annual such study Knowledge Networks has undertaken.

While most Web videophiles (87%) are watching full episodes to keep current with series they watch regularly, 47% report checking out episodes of new series online before they watch on TV. That represents a significant increase from the 29% of Web videophiles who reported sampling new shows online in Knowledge Networks’ previous two annual surveys.