How Much Video is Watched in 2019?

The term “video” has come to mean many things – similar to how the word “phone” no longer represents simple auditory communication. 20 years ago, video was primarily viewed on a television or in a theater. In the year 2000, only 52% of U.S. households had access to the Internet. And the first Smartphone wasn’t introduced until 2007. But as of 2017, the average household had 7.5 video-capable devices – including TVs, smartphones, PCs, tablets, and laptops – and that number is only increasing.

As marketers, organizations, and educational institutions continue to gravitate heavily toward video content development, it’s important to consider how much video people are actually watching today.

How Much Video is Watched?

To start, we will look into the many mediums through which video is streamed, and how they rank in popularity and total consumption.

In essence, video is now shown through live-action television, time-shifted television, DVD or Blu-ray devices, gaming consoles, computer internet, apps or web on a Smartphone or Tablet, other internet-connected devices, and even online radio.

With all the avenues through which video is presented throughout the day, Nielsen has found that the average person spends nearly 6 hours a day watching video. There is such heavy inundation of video content now surrounding our day-to-day lives that most people aren’t even aware of how many videos they’re actually consuming. It’s become second nature. Perhaps we watch the news in the morning, online videos throughout the day, our favorite television shows or movies at night, and on and on it goes. Video is now everywhere, and we have fully embraced this without even realizing.

Types of Video Consumption

Given this influx of video consumption, let’s now take a look at all the different types of video being consumed – including educational, instructional, advertorial, entertainment, short-form, long-form, live-stream, social sharing, and brand representation.

Here are some examples of the most consumed types of video:

1. Educational Course Video

Working adults may not consume much educational content (although you’d be surprised if you pay attention), but for the vast amount of individuals in some kind of educational institution, eLearning video content has become a primary mode of information dissemination. This is true for both educators and students, alike, as students use video for presentations and assignments in more frequency. (Remember, educational video is required to be captioned and transcribed under the ADA.)

2. Training and HR Video

Another common use of video is for hiring, on-boarding, and ongoing employee development. This is seen through the use of pre-recorded seminars, short how-tos, virtual webinars, company culture films, meet the team videos, and company event live-streaming.

3. Social Video

This is huge. Social video is happening all day, every day, curated by people of every walks of life. Teenagers share videos of their friends at social outings, parents share videos of their children or pets (pet parents are parents, too!), companies share product tutorials and testimonials, retirees share videos of their international travel (fun), government organizations share important updates, and news organizations share short clips of breaking news – just to name a few!

4. Marketing Video

Gone are the days of tv commercials, here are the days of viral videos, live webinars, video seminars, email videos, vlogs, and online video advertising! To be fair, tv commercials are still relevant – but they are few and far between when compared to all the other new forms of video marketing. Other types of video marketing that are slightly less prevalent, but still relevant, include video case studies, behind-the-scenes videos, feature explainers, and product round ups.

5. Sports, News and Entertainment Video

Not to be forgotten, as this was the original medium of video content, is straight video entertainment – i.e. television and movies. Or, rather these days, short form and long form video. This includes live television, streaming video series’, films and documentaries, webcasts, video podcasts, video games, computer games, news, and sports.

When analyzing Nielsen’s breakdown of time spent watching video on each platform, it’s clear that traditional video content – i.e. sports, news and entertainment on a home television – still reigns supreme. However, coming in second is content viewed on a Smartphone – and that represents nearly every other type of video now being created and shared.

Radio – AKA Audio’s Trojan Horse

Finally, let’s look at the prevalence of radio in the mix of media engagement. This is not a video-based platform but comes in a close third behind Smartphones for avenues of media consumption. If you are a podcaster or producer of any kind of auditory content, consider the value of audio transcription when it comes to repurposing your audio files, helping them to rank and index online, and boosting listener engagement.

 

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For more information on our video transcription, captioning and video intelligence solutions, contact us online or call us at 1-855-243-5624.

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