Two studies find rapid increases in online video usage

Two recent studies show that online video viewing is increasing across the board, though 18-49 year olds continue to adopt the medium more quickly than their elders. A survey of 2,253 adults conducted in April by Princeton Survey Research International found that 90 percent of 18-29 year olds and 67 percent of 30-49 year olds now use online video sites. A separate study by Forrester found that 25 percent of all Internet users now watch some TV shows online and 13 percent watch at least once per month. Forrester's study had many more participants, however, as it surveyed more than 50,000 U.S. and Canadian Web users.

Though older demographics do not view online video as frequently as their younger cohorts, their usage is increasing as well. Now, 41 percent of Internet users ages 50-64 and 27 percent of users 64 and older access some form of online video, up from 34 percent and 19 percent respectively in 2008, according to the Princeton research.

While it is encouraging to see study results trumpeting increasing online video viewing statistics, other research has suggested these figures may be overstated for a variety of reasons.

For more:
- see the MediaPost article on the Princeton survey here
- see the NewTeeVee article on the Forrester survey here 

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