Sept. News, Entertainment Events Boost Online Video

Fall TV premieres, coupled with coverage of the presidential election and the financial crisis, boosted online video viewing at all four networks’ websites in September.
NBC.com, which grew 312% month-over-month, saw the largest September increase in video viewers, followed by FOX Broadcasting and ABC.com, with 165% and 105% growth, respectively, Nielsen Online reported Thursday.
Rank (by UV) |
TV Network Web Property |
Unique Viewers (in 000s) |
% Change: Unique Viewers (Aug. – Sept. 2008) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | NBC.com | 5,557 | 312% |
2 | ABC.COM | 5,246 | 105% |
3 | CBS Television | 3,296 | 38% |
4 | FOX Broadcasting | 1,371 | 165% |
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus (August – September 2008). | |||
Note: Data includes progressive downloads and excludes video advertising. |
“A combination of series and season premiers, political news and parodies, and coverage of the financial crisis all contributed to increased online video viewing for the television networks in September,” Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics, Nielsen Online, noted. “Consumers are increasingly relying on the Web to catch up on content they missed when it aired on television and the networks are beginning to capitalize on this trend.”
Total video streams in a variety of entertainment categories also increased last month.
Fastest Growing Entertainment Categories Online: Sept. 2008 |
Aug. 2008: Total Video Streams | Sept. 2008: Total Video Streams | % Change: Unique Viewers (Aug. – Sept. 2008) |
---|---|---|---|
Entertainment – Online Games | 30,267 | 50,814 | 68% |
Entertainment – Events | 3,132 | 5,094 | 63% |
Entertainment – Books | 1,179 | 1,902 | 61% |
Entertainment – Music | 107,461 | 161,369 | 50% |
Entertainment – Broadcast Media | 180,171 | 269,798 | 50% |
Source: Nielsen Online, Custom Analysis (August – September 2008). |
Overall, the number of unique viewers streaming video online increased 6% — from 117,916 viewers in August to 125,061 in September. Meanwhile, total video streams increased 10% month-over-month — from 8.06 million in August to 8.89 million in September.
YouTube, Yahoo! and Fox Interactive Media were the top brands, ranked by video streams, during September.
Rank (by video streams) |
Online Brand | Total Video Streams (in 000s) |
Unique Video Viewers (in 000s) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | YouTube | 5,354,392 | 81,881 |
2 | Yahoo! | 264,266 | 29,908 |
3 | Fox Interactive Media | 242,444 | 19,258 |
4 | MSN/Windows Live | 164,776 | 10,980 |
5 | Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network | 162,971 | 6,152 |
6 | Hulu | 142,261 | 6,324 |
7 | ESPN | 127,794 | 8,434 |
8 | CNN Digital Network | 117,708 | 9,451 |
9 | MTV Networks Music | 97,207 | 4,762 |
10 | Disney Online | 87,193 | 9,146 |
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus (September 2008). | |||
Note: Data includes progressive downloads and excludes video advertising. |
View the full press release.
Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in TV Week, Media Post, and Biz Report.com.
https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2008/sept-news-entertainment-events-boost-online-video/