September ushered in television network season premieres, increasing not only television ratings, but also online video viewing. Unique viewers of video content at the four television networks increased an average of 155 percent in September over the previous month. In addition to new and favorite shows, coverage of the presidential campaign and the financial crisis attracted viewers online. And let’s not forget the comic relief. Political parodies and gaffes provided plenty of online fodder for viewers looking for a good chuckle amid bleak economic times. See the full press release for additional online video metrics.

Tags: online video, tv network

With the campaign season rapidly coming to an end, I’ve been thinking about how drastically my online and offline behavior has changed in the past few months. I am not alone in saying that I’ve been pretty consumed with election coverage since the heat of the primaries. Over the past year traffic to political sites and television viewership of partisan programming have jumped to historic levels. Most surprising, though, is that I’ve found my use of online video has skyrocketed from virtually none pre-election to daily viewing over the past month. I’ve been devoted to catching the one-liners, the outrageous gaffes and contradictions, and, of course, the popular parodies produced by SNL, the Daily Show, and other late-night comedy shows. Again, I am not alone. Total streams have increased dramatically since November 2007 to YouTube (115%), CNN (143%), and hulu (1928%–thank you Tina Fey and Sarah Palin). Overall, streams in the Online Video Market have grown by 50%.

During the first Gulf War, 24-hour cable news (specifically CNN) saw huge ratings increases and established the viability of cable news, which is now a staple of television for many Americans. Fifteen years later, we couldn’t imagine not being able to find news on television at any time of day. Might we look back at the 2008 presidential election as a catalyst for streaming video similar to what the Gulf War was for round the clock cable news? Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t bet against it.

Tags: election, online video, streaming

Several of my recent Buzz Tracker projects have included a close look at viral marketing or viral word-of-mouth and I’ve taken a specific interest in learning how word-of-mouth gets started and eventually reaches a viral level. Some brands fear viral word-of-mouth, like when a video of a Burger King employee taking a bath in the restaurant’s sink appeared on YouTube in August 2008 and quickly earned over a hundred thousand views. Despite any attempts at damage control by the brand, the video is still on YouTube and will remain there for the viewing public to see, even long after buzz about the incident subsides.

In contrast, an excellent example of a brand using viral word-of-mouth to their advantage is Louis Vuitton, the luxury baggage designer. A series of videos created by the brand with a focus on core values and the tagline “Where will life take you?” appeared on YouTube in early 2008 and has received several hundred-thousand views. Many consider the initiative a success, not only because consumers continue to watch the videos and pass them along to others, but also because revenue for the brand grew 14% in the first six months of 2008.

For every brand that successfully launches a viral marketing campaign, there are brands that are leery of entering the space and brands that try but fail. I have seen campaigns that I personally think are creative and interesting, but generate very little buzz and a disappointing number of hits. On the other hand, there is a long list of successful campaigns, but what specifically makes these campaigns reach a viral level? How and why do consumers first learn of these videos and what makes them want to pass along links and discuss them with others?

Many of the answers to these questions aren’t clear cut or “one size fits all”; however, brands that may feel overwhelmed should know that there are a few basics that should be at the core of a viral marketing initiative. While certainly not a comprehensive list, here are a few thought starters. First, the video should be highly relevant to issues or events that are key to the brand, such as a product launch or damage control for a high-profile issue or crisis. Second, the video needs to be sincere and authentic to the brand and what it represents. Third, remember that a video can have a long shelf life online; the face or brand image represented in the video needs to stand the test of time and be in line with the long term brand strategy. Brands should also keep in mind that if they fail to take the plunge into viral marketing, they may be left behind while competitors use CGM2 to their advantage.

Tags: online video, viral marketing, word of mouth

The first “online” Olympics are upon us and the games are breaking records in the pool and in the media. Online traffic to Olympics coverage has reached all-time highs, with U.S. traffic to NBCOlympics.com reaching 2.6 million visitors on August 8^th when the Beijing Olympics opened, compared to 330,000 unique visitors on the opening day of the 2004 Athens games. A rising tide appears to be lifting all boats: even traffic to other top sports-related Web sites, those not officially affiliated with the Olympics, grew in the week leading up to the games, growing an average of 12% between Friday August 1^st and Friday, August 8^th.

Much of this growth is explained by three relatively straightforward facts. First, the historic Chinese venue, combined with the global fascination with athlete celebrities, has led to remarkably high interest in these Olympic games, reflected positively in all media usage. Second, the 12- to 15-hour time difference between Beijing and the U.S. is making it difficult for Americans to watch the events live, and therefore many are turning to the Internet to supplement viewing. And third, NBC’s impressive array of video content - including more than 2,000 hours of live coverage - is attracting viewers to live events streamed during the work day.

Several key trends during the first week shed additional light on the in-roads online media is making during the games, including:

• The conversation around swimming is specific, but gymnastics just grows: Social Media has come a long way since the Athens games, and fans are buzzing online about the athletes. Online buzz around swimming seems to be very specifically centered on Michael Phelps: it spikes when he wins (basically, when he gets into the water) and declines on nights that he does not swim. Gymnastics however, has seen a slow, steady build in interest since the beginning of the games. While swimming had almost three times the buzz volume of gymnastics on August 11^th, by August 13^th, the decrease in buzz around swimming and the steady increase of conversation around gymnastics has brought the two events to a tie in buzz volume.
• Work week viewing of short-form content is driving video consumption: On the first Monday of the Olympics, the U.S. unique audience to the video section of NBCOlympics.com more than doubled, growing from slightly less than 860,000 to slightly more than 2 million. Because of the length of any given individual performance, many Olympic events, such as swimming, track & field and gymnastics are ideal for the short-form video consumption that most online viewers are used to. As events shift to soccer and basketball, we may see longer time spent viewing, but with smaller audiences, reflecting similar consumption patterns seen during the NCAA tournament or viewing of full-length TV programming online.
• The Internet is not replacing TV viewing: According to a Nielsen Online survey of 2,000 Internet users, 88% of people who are visiting NBCOlympics.com are also viewing the Olympics on TV and 80% of people using other Web properties to follow the Olympics are also viewing the games on TV. These numbers suggest even though NBC is streaming a significant amount of live Olympics content, fans continue to tune into the TV when it is available and convenient. Additionally, individuals who watch the Olympics both on TV and online are significantly more likely to remember seeing advertisements for key brands such as Coke, Lenovo and Visa.
• Speaking of advertising, there sure is a lot of it online: During the days leading up to the games and through the opening weekend (August 4 - 10), nearly 900 million ad impressions were served on NBCOlympics.com. The vast majority of the advertisers were brand advertisers including Unilever (98 million impressions) and U.S. Olympic team sponsors Bank of America (80 million), Coke (68 million) and Nissan (68 million). These large online campaigns illustrate trends seen elsewhere on the Internet where large brand advertisers extend advertising campaigns across media with significant investments. Advertisers making this level of investment also tend to put money toward advanced creatives, with 70% of the ads flash-based and 17% rich media. This differs greatly from the average where 56% of non-text based online ads are flash-based and 6% are rich media.

With week-one of the 2008 games in the history books, the Olympics have been exciting to follow on both TV and online - and we are looking forward to this week. With the games shifting to coverage of soccer, basketball and track & field, and an emphasis on longer events, we expect to see some changing usage trends along with buzz about new heroes.

Tags: nbc, olympics, online video

About two years ago, Corey Jeffrey, a good buddy of Nielsen, and I were talking about what would really make online video take off. I’m not a particularly technical guy (I think HDMI was an 80’s New Wave band), so what I thought the turning point would be is something that would just plug into the USB port on my laptop and magically send video to the box that I plugged into the back of my TV. Although we haven’t gotten there quite yet, I feel like I’ve seen the future. Against all of my wife’s wishes, I got my NetFlix box on Saturday.

I’m not going to provide all of the ins and outs, but suffice to say you can access all of the streaming content from the NetFlix site on your TV. Movies play quickly, it is super easy to hook up, and the quality is good. On the downside, the variety leaves a bit to be desired and the navigating is pretty rough (a giant list from your queue – no folder structure).

I’ve talked pretty extensively about what we believe the untapped future of video is – and I believe the two core areas for development are more streaming full length TV programs, and high quality delivery. From a business delivery standpoint this new box hits on both levels. However, for it to be truly successful, the catalog needs to be expanded.

So the big question becomes monetization. Since the box was $100 and there are no additional costs on my NetFlix account – they’re clearly not making a ton of money with this solution. How, then do they make money out of this magic box?

Ad Revenue: There is probably some play here. Either some type of pre-roll, or plausibly some in programming companion ads, although I think it might devalue the current experience. Given the current weakness in catalog depth, they probably want to make the experience as good as they possibly can. They could, however, provide some type of value added advertising. Consumers should be able to access movie previews and perhaps NetFlix could receive a pay-per-play type model.

Higher Subscription Rate: Possibly, but as my wife said – “couldn’t we just watch this on the laptop?”

Trojan Horse/Killing Blow: This seems most likely. NetFlix themselves have said that the DVD delivery business only has 5 years left. This technology could just be the killing blow for both Blockbuster and my local video store – and pretty much allows them to compete with DVR and on-demand services. At the same time there is no reason why Roku, the manufacturer of the box, couldn’t provide other web based content through the same interface. Do I hear Hulu and YouTube knocking? Well, maybe not Hulu’s or Veoh’s entire catalog, but there is good reason to believe that they could provide content that is not being broadcast on TV anymore.

Okay, time to open up a can of ginger ale, enjoy my air conditioning, and watch “Fast Cheap and Out of Control.”

Tags: netflix, online advertising, online video