Consumer hunger for digital content appears insatiable, based on the strong growth in online video subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime Instant Video. Thirty-seven percent of U.S. broadband households surveyed had a Netflix subscription for OTT content, while around 10 percent had subscriptions to Hulu Plus and Amazon. The number of U.S. subscribers to Netflix's streaming service increased 59 percent, from 19.5 million in 2010 to more than 30 million in Q3 2013.

Consumers' propensity for content "snacking" -- viewing content for short durations -- was consistently high for free, ad-supported online video sites such as YouTube, VEVO and Yahoo, as well as social networking options such as Facebook, the research suggested.

The top two providers for user-generated content, YouTube and Facebook, rank significantly higher than others in this category, according to Parks Associates' consumer research. YouTube is the go-to provider of short form, user-generated content.

These increases in consumer video viewing impact adoption and use cases for both TV sets and alternative platforms, such as smartphones and tablets. For example, nearly one-half of video consumed on TVs in the U.S. now comes from nonlinear sources, based on the survey results, while the average U.S. broadband household watches 1.7 hours of video on a smartphone and nearly one hour on a tablet each week.

From the article, "Appeasing Consumers' Insatiable Appetite for Online Video" by Brett Sappington.

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