A new study from Motorola has found that an amazing 45% of European broadband users now watch at least some television online.
The survey covering the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain found that the French lead Europe in terms of online television consumption with 59% of people choosing to watch previews and episodes of their favorite shows via the web with the Germans trailing at 33%.
The survey did not ask where the respondents obtained the content, ignoring the reality that many were possibly downloading television shows from BitTorrent or similar services.
The results further strengthen the business models of startups such as Joost, that seek to target a massive potential audience through the use of streamed content over a P2P network, but with the safeguards of DRM and imposed advertising delivery built in.
The survey also found that 45% of Europeans expect to be making video calls via their home TV’s by 2012.
“Viewers across Europe are no longer satisfied with fitting into schedules dictated by broadcasters and are turning to the choice and flexibility offered by TV over the internet,” Motorola’s Karl Elliott told the BBC.
“We are witnessing a nation of citizen schedulers who are in control of their entertainment, allowing them to watch what they want, how and when they want it.”
The convergance of Television and the Internet, despite recent false starts with products such as Microsoft’s Windows Media Center, looks set to continue.
Nope, I don’t believe it. 45%of those surveyed, perhaps. But I’d be surprised if even that many people had fast enough internet access to watch online TV.
45% of 14-28 year olds, maybe. 45% of the population, never.
Here in USA soon we will have all TV channels and TV shows available online for free.
Take a look at:
http://www.bbpctv.com/
alex: we young Europeans have multiple personalities.. so I’d rather go for an easy 140% of the population.
I agree with Alex. Not to mention, as far as my knowledge serves me, Europeans watch far less TV (overall) than Americans, focusing more on social activities.
This is just impossible. Just look around, Internet penetration is barely as high. Broadband is definitely lower. This is intoxication… or poor survey standards at best. There’s no way that 45% of Europeans watch TV online, even in 14-28 year olds.
At least 80% of surveys are just crap. Pls check your source.
I’m sceptical about the 45%. Regardless, this is an absolutely booming market.
In our experience consumption of online media (regardless of format) is more common in Europe than in the US. People are not content with waiting half a year to watch their favourite show, when the show is available (illegaly?) online.
Not surprisingly, we expect a large part of these people download content illegaly. Some business models, such as advertisement financed or subscriptions, don’t yet work for the media companies because of the high costs of media distribution. Solving that problem may very well help pave the road for legal alternatives.
I would agree with this statement somewhat — They may not be watching COMPLETE programs but are catching snippets of news here and there. There were a large number of people subscribing to paid podcasts in the UK not too long ago — for a comedy program of all things.
Australia, New Zealand and England are a lot further ahead that 90% of American web companies – advertising agencies — their thinking is a lot different – more proactive. So there could be some truth to this.
I definitely don’t see myself ever watching TV online – the reason being I’m too busy doing other things when online to watch it.
I live in Europe, I’ve just started watching Joost – though I would hardly call it TV. More like recorded programming.
My broadband is pretty good and if the right service comes along I wouldn’t mind shifting purely to watching TV online, just get another widescreen monitor and hook myself up.
True, in that it was a survey so it’s respondents, but I think its important to look outside of mainstream streaming services and consider your Bittorrents and similar as well as I noted in the post, even Usenet has surged as a destination for downloading recorded TV content after nearly fading away several years ago. Consider that a 30 minute program is only a 200mb download that with a decent broadband connection could be downloaded in under 1 hour (or quicker again) then your potential market is a lot bigger than most would expect.
A substantial amount of (young) europeans ‘watch TV’ through BitTorrent, because it takes so darn long for new shows to arrive to the smaller countries’ TV networks.
Considering the Euro stations are so far behind the US in online activities, the only services in the UK are 4oD and Sky Anytime (PC).
I can’t see 45% knowing how bit torrent works or how to get 4oD or Sky Anytime.
I do agree a lot of Europeans will be downloading via bit-torrent because our networks, and the US congloms, are idiots and think its better to charge more to show it early, or pay less to show it 2 years later, than just doing it the week after and getting the buzz while it lasts and all those who download illegally.
If I was to ever download illegally, which I contend I have not, I would not bother if it was going to be shown on British TV the next week … like Desperate Housewives is right now (although it started 4 months later!) … I might, although I content I didn’t, download it back in September when it started in the US.
In France, 16-25 MBit DSL is market standard and customers get IPTV included into their flat rates, DE has IPTV in major cities available, should be the same for UK London area.
http://www.t-home.de/
http://adsl.aol...-numerique.html
http://www.alic...uebersicht.html
It is 45% of broadband users, so more close to the truth than may appear. But most of this will not be Television as the press release indicates, but respondents mistaking video clips for TV
There is a real revolution emerging right before our eyes which will change the way we have viewed and defined TV till now. I believe that within a few years time, we will see the internet establish itself as the leader of all media (due to its ability for customization and personalization) and that more and more services and technologies will be offered to those watching and those who want to be watched. You can check out my post regarding this issue: http://blonde2d...ture-of-tv.html
Another thing to consider is that some of this survey was done in the UK – where there is still a tax of a few hundred dollars a year which could nearly pay for a years broadband.
Similar to mobile phones several years ago when younger adults starting cancelling home phone accounts and moving just to mobile phones.
As when money gets involved users are generally more willing to change.
We do not generally associate Motorola with TV. Sign of things to come?
The 45% figure is dubious but TV on the internet is a reality in some european countries.
My ISP offers me almost all channels (including around 80 for free) as high quality streaming MPEG2. No proprietary player (just use VideoLan), no DRM, no cost (I just pay the basic 29,90 euros for my ADSL2+ line).
I don’t even own a TV set anymore.
The 3 millions subscribers of this ISP are far from 45% of the population of the country but it is quite different from the “download on bittorrent” scheme the comments above are imagining.
Hopefully this will help companies to continue to develop in this important area. I think there is still a lot of need for mainstream consumer adoption, but it will come when the products become intuitive enough.
What exactly are “Europenas?”
Maybe “TV” includes “YouTube”? If so, I could see 45% of broadband users having watched at least some “TV”. Ultimately this depends on how the questions were worded…
I’m with Vince here. I don’t live in Europe, but I’ve visited a few times and stayed in “non-hotel” places. The TV comes in from the ISP through a DSL modem that you can also hook up to your computer. I think Americans are spoiled by cable which I don’t think is nearly as prevalent in Europe. I don’t have numbers, but I’d imagine that for business reasons at least, DSL-style broadband penetration is much higher than cable penetration in Europe, so if people get their internet connection through DSL-style broadband, then they probably also get their TV through the same connection. It’s a lot like my brother who cancelled his cable and gets everything through his Apple TV. Imagine that instead of buying everything from iTunes and going through your Apple TV that you just get everything streamed through the Apple TV for free. Wouldn’t you be watching TV online then too?
I think the survey was of “broadband” users in Europe. Which, as far as I can tell from recent surveys, is 30% of the population. So that makes it about 14% of Europeans watch TV online. A more realistic percentage.
This reminds me, 72% of all statistics are made up on the spot …
Stats like the ones presented in this article show America’s knowledge on what is happening outside their own borders. You can tell them anything and they will believe it.
It would be nice if the you would include a link to the study that you are referencing. It would at least be helpful if you could verify whether Motorola administered or commissioned the study.
Since Motorola has an economic interest in having its business customers believe that a market is bigger than it actually is, the validity of any of the numbers quoted is questionable.
I think the title of this blog post should be changed to “45% of Europeans broadband users watch TV online”. That would make much more sense. Otherwise I don’t believe it at all. Also, as Mike M said, link to the paper would be much more helpful then just a link to the homepage of Motorola website.
- anytime a person can find a way to watch a tv program in 20 minutes and get the exact thing -interruptions… THEY WILL
– I just got DVR (I know Im 20 yr behind) but I havent watched a commercial except for live programs, since
Does anybody know of any studies on U.S. users?
I think this shows how far behind we are. It’s been forever known that this kind of trend would happen but video content sites, networks, etc. in the U.S. only seem to just be starting to position for it. It’s no wonder Joost is lighting it up right now.
I call BS. I live in Europe (Austria, at the moment, previously Italy), and no way do that many people watch TV on line. Their “survey” must have been on a web page regarding downloading movies or something similarly skewed.
Hi. I work for Edelman, Motorola’s PR company (*prepares to get flamed*) but I think it’s worth me saying so and offering to clarify any questions people have here.
It’s important to note that it was broadband users in Europe who were surveyed; this was simply the continuation of a large broadband/CMTS study that Moto conducted last year looking at consumer bandwidth usage. It was conducted by StrategyOne, a well respected third party research house.
The intention here was to look at what services European consumers are currently using, their opinions of these services, their understanding of IPTV technologies and the attitude and demand for the viewing experience offered by IP video services.
This is the first stage of results to be released. Following a number of questions about viewing habits and use of broadband, respondents were asked “do you watch previews or episodes of your favourite TV shows online?” the answer that came back was a resounding ‘Yes’. 45% may seem high (it certainly did to us) but when you think about the sheer volume of services and methods of provision, it’s not quite so extreme.
The point of interest here should not focus on the specific mechanic or method of delivery but on the viewing experience being embraced by end-users. Respondents may not be able to differentiate between live streaming, video on demand or download, but the message that is coming through is that people are taking far more control in their viewing habits, making the decision on their own time and not allowing themselves to be dictated to by broadcasters. It’s simply evidence that illustrates the changing face of viewing habits – something that’s enabled by high-bandwidth internet connections and IPTV technologies whilst being embraced by broadcasters (like the BBC and ITV in the UK this week), new stakeholders (Joost, Babelnetworks, Jalipo) and traditional providers (Telia Sonera, France Telecom).
The division I represent here is Motorola’s Connected Home Solutions division (http://broadband.motorola.com/) which has been active in the TV market for about 50 years. I know they’re mostly known for phones but they have a huge Cable modem, digital TV and IPTV set-top-box business.
I’m happy to clarify any questions or issues you guys have, there’s an a lot more material yet to come out of this but for the moment I can only discuss the most recent announcement.
Skewed skewed! I have an article on my site that says TV internet consumption amongst the youth in Europe is quite low (compared to 45%)…and assuming the youth are one of the major drivers of internet TV, this directly contradicts motorola’s statistics. Sham!
It’s 45% of BROADBAND users… Not Europeans in general.
The only thing this survey suggests is that people who conduct the survey will only share data that supports whatever product they are going to launch in a few months/weeks.
The question may have been as broad as “Have you ever seen a TV program or preview using the internet?”
Can you provide the exact question that they were asked?
Why was this article posted on TechCrunch? Who is this Duncan Riley guy? Someone please give him the boot.
No doubt millions are watching some video online but what qualifies as legal, long form, and premium content may not be an apples to apples comparison with traditional tv programming. Bottom line is people all over the world love TV and more people will watch TV online if it is free, safe, easy to use and entertaining.
It sounds like it was 45% of the broadband users who responded to the survey – all in all a tiny percentage. Europe is certainly more advanced than the US in terms of broadband penetration (50MB for less than $50 is being rolled out in France), and TV over DSL has been available for a while, but that’s about it.
45% sounds very high.
–
We Will Create Your Very Own Domain Name – http://PowerNamer.com
I don’t see what the big deal is with this. Everybody knows vendors aren’t exactly the best sources for this kind of stuff – it’s interesting but probably should be taken with a grain of salt. The survey probably came out of market research or some other project Motorola is/was working on, more than likely to justify or support doing it than a scientific effort. I thought it was useful.
I still think video content is behind here.
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Will: Thanks for the insight. What’s skewing the question is pretty obvious: it includes watching previews for shows. So anyone who goes to any show site or blog and watches a preview would answer yes.
I can totally see how that would skew towards 45%. It’s like asking people if they’ve looked at or smoked a cigarette while in a convenience store… and then saying 45% of convenience store customers are smokers
and what does “watch” mean, I check out a youtube video they get emailed to me, or I read about them on digg/reddit…am I “watching” TV ???
I don’t think so, but I have a feeling this behaviour is included in the 45%
The fact that we refered specifcally to ‘favourite TV shows’ skewed the concept away from UCG or clips towards content of a higher, more professional level of production value.
I agree, the way that we phrased the question removed the concept of timescale – whatever the viewer watched – it could’ve been once, it could’ve been 50 times a day – the fact is, people are accessing online and watching to their own schedule. It’s all about the demand for these time-shifting services and the implications for stakeholders looking implement their own service – there’s a very ripe market.
Consumer control over access isn’t new. It’s been widely known for a long time that people can and will continue to be able to access content/media by the device of choice when they chose to. It’s also widely known that people are responding to it.
What plans does Motorola have about it?
Will O’Connor: “Hi. I work for Edelman, Motorola’s PR company, so I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies. Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about. But trust me…. You don’t. I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you don’t know what you are talking about. This is how bad info gets passed around. If you dont know about the topic….Dont make yourself sound like you do. Cos some Tech Crunchers believe anything they hear.”
/obscure?
Apologies for the off-topic comment… I am registered to attend the Rails Conference in Portland this month, but unfortunately it seems I am needed outside the mainland that week and will not be able to attend. Anybody interested in a ticket to the Rails Conference?
If you are interested in the ticket to the Rails Conference, please contact me at entropSPAM@gmail.com—be sure to remove the “SPAM” from the above email address before sending.
If clicking on a youtube link in email is considered watching online TV, I am sure 45% of the LA commuters watch TV on a billboard.
I am not surprised at all. There are a lot of sites like Dailymotion.fr in France, not to mention a number of video on demand websites. When they ask the question “do you watch TV”, it’s possible the respondents count video clips on French newspaper sites like Lemonde.fr. You can see clips of the recent debate between Segolene Royal and Nicholas Sarkozy on Lemonde.fr, as well as clips from the Virginia Tech reportages. People probably consider this to be “watching TV on the Internet”. If so, then basically anyone who goes to these sites and clicks on a video, “watches” TV online.
So 45% percent of broadband users have watched a video on youtube, sounds low to me, and also sounds like completely useless information.
The self pro-claimed expert above can correct me.
It’s probably more true than we think. European TV sucks, so they opt for the web.
It’s a trend, no doubt. But 45% seems WAY too high. I would guess it’s more in the 25% range. Still, that’s significant.