Online TV Viewing Approaches the Mainstream

September 5th, 2008

Nearly 20 percent of American households are tuning into TV over the Internet. That’s twice the number from 2006, according to new research from The Conference Board Consumer Research Center and market-research firm TNS. The most popular destinations for online broadcasts? The official TV channel home page and YouTube.com.The growing movement toward watching TV online is attributable, in part, to schedule-bucking viewers who want to watch the shows they want to watch when they want to watch them. Other reasons for the rise in online TV viewing include portability and the ability to skip commercials.

“Most consumers are pressed for time and require flexibility in their daily schedules and TV viewing habits,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are clearly reasons why we are seeing a greater number turning to the Internet. And, it is the reason why we would expect to see this trend continue.”

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