Better online video capability is resulting in more video on news sites and in online ads, The New York Times says.
“At a time when other categories of advertising dollars are shrinking, video ads are booming. News sites are adding more video inventory to keep pace with the demands of advertisers, and benefiting from the higher cost-per-thousands, or C.P.M.’s, that ads on those videos command,” The Times says.
“With broadband penetration becoming ubiquitous and more and more sites having this easy capability, people are expecting video to be there,” K. C. Estenson, the general manager of CNN.com, told the newspaper.
“Among Web sites operated by newspapers, The New York Times, Gannett and Tribune each reach more than a million viewers a month with video streams, comScore says. The home page of The Times sometimes streams live video of events; it carried a news conference Friday about the shootings Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas. …
“Analysts say they expect the flow of online advertising dollars to video to continue. The research firm eMarketer projects 35 to 45 percent growth for the segment for each of the next five years, topping out at $5.2 billion in 2014. (Even then, it would hardly rival search advertising, which is projected to be a $16 billion business.)”
Related: A user-generated video of a first-time mother giving birth that she posted to Gannett’s MomsLikeMe online community resulted in 1.3 million minutes in viewing time and 10 times the normal traffic, Editor & Publisher says, quoting Gannett Digital Media Network. More than 1,000 people commented on the event.
And, we meant to point out a Nielsen Company study that says U.S. television viewing reached an all-time high in the 2008-09 season, with Americans spending an average four hours and 49 minutes a day in front of the television. Nielsen attributes the increase to more TV sets, greater use of digital video recorders and the increase in channels and content to choose from. We thought that perhaps the highest unemployment rate in 26 years may have contributed, as well.