Online Video Streaming
"Consumers are hungry for it. Broadcasters are terrified of it. And well they should be - if the internet has its way, broadcast television could soon be tumbleweed in the dust."
In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, the reality that is online video streaming was discussed this week.
Video streams viewed by broadband users have, within a span of three years, experienced rapid growth and now account for close to 80% of the total views of online audiovisual streaming.
By the end of 2006 there will be 4 million Australian Homes with broadband; the lighting fast medium through which the live streaming of audiovisual information has now been made not only possible but appealing. This represents a large proportion of the Australian population that will now have instant access to online video and audio streams.
Due to the decline of dial-up internet and the sharp incline in broadband usage, it is now an ideal time to reach millions of Australians through online streaming video.
Some detailed studies have been made into the online streaming audiovisual industry and some key points have been outlined below:
• Total broadband streams served per unique user per month rose by 43% (for sites with 90% broadband usage) to 15.4 streams per user during the first half of 2004, with an average length of view of over two minutes and average bit rate of 225 Kbps .
• Of the total 5 billion video streams served worldwide during the first half of 2004, 79.1% were at broadband (100 kbps and above) rates, with an average length of view of 30 minutes per unique user per month per site .
• Over 45% of users that watch video streams online have signed up to regular streaming video feeds such as RealNetworks, MSN and CNN.
• In June 2005, more than 94 million people in the U.S., or 56 percent of the domestic Internet population, viewed a streaming video online. The average consumer viewed 73 minutes of streaming video content per month.
• The daytime was also the most popular time for viewing streaming video from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
One study described the main features of online streaming video to be that is free, easily accessible and now able to be viewed seamlessly by any broadband internet user worldwide.
Due to the sheer size of the audience that can now be reached instantaneously, live video streams have also lent themselves to the marketing and advertising industry. A significant proportion of video subscriptions worldwide now contain short advertising segments which help fund the streaming of the video.
Overall, the advent of widespread broadband use and the accessibility of video streaming to such a large percentage of the Australian population have made it an ideal medium through which to reach millions of Australian people.
