The habits of US visitors to online TV sites reveal that online TV-viewing acts as a replacement for DVR (digital video recorder) viewing. The broader usage patterns suggest that online video is, for the most part, a replacement of DVR use, or used by those who do not have immediate access to TV. TV network content online is primarily used to catch up with programming, rather than as a replacement for TV viewing, according to research from Nielsen.

When asked for reasons they watch TV shows on the internet, 54% of respondents said because they forgot to watch a specific episode when it aired on TV. Another 47% said they are catching up on a current season of programming, 33% said they are catching up on a previous season, and 32% specifically said they forgot to record a show with their DVR or TiVo. Only the bottom three answers, another household member watching another program at the same time, and watching while at work or traveling, could be considered reasons that replace watching TV in the traditional manner.

When an internet session involves viewing TV, the viewing of TV tends to dominate the session. Overall, 73% of internet session that involves TV viewing consists of TV viewing. That number climbs to 75% of men’s sessions and drops to 69% of women’s sessions. The 2-11 age group has its internet sessions least dominated by TV viewing (50%), with ages 65-plus devoting the second-least amount of time (59%). Ages 25-34 devoted the most of their internet sessions that involved TV viewing to TV viewing (79%), barely ahead of 18-to-24-year-olds (78%).

Online TV viewing is a mostly solitary activity. A combined 84% of respondents never or rarely watch TV online with one or more other people. Despite the efforts of digital advertising specialists to devise clever, quirky internet-only ads, online TV viewers seem to prefer repurposed TV ads, at least in the food and beverage category. In the areas of general recall, brand recall, message recall, and like-ability, repurposed TV ads for food and beverage products came in first with respondents, followed by web original video ads and web original flash ads. Repurposed TV ads held the slimmest advantage in the like-ability category.

Viewers Still Prefer Live TV
86% prefer watching TV on their television sets live, as opposed to using a DVR or on-demand feature, according to a recent Deloitte survey. Fewer than 10% said they prefer watching the same content online, though an increasing number are doing so. Potentially foreshadowing an increasingly central role for the TV, 65% of respondents would like to be able to easily connect their home TV to the internet so that they can view videos or downloaded content.