North America will have 200 million online video viewers by 2016

Multichannel networks (MCNs) are part of a new strategy among traditional content companies and studios to reach Millennial video viewers, according to the new report from Parks AssociatesWebisodes to Multichannel Networks: Future Content Opportunities.The research firm reportsthere will be over 200 million online video viewers in North America by 2016, with consumers 18-24 leading the way. This Millennial age group watches 5.5 hours of Internet video per week on a smartphone and six hours per week on a tablet, often favoring short-form YouTube content like PewDiePie and Jenna Marbles. 

“Millennials, who watch the most Internet video content, have been a difficult demographic for content providers and distributors to reach,” said Glenn Hower, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “As audiences for Internet video personalities grow, content companies have taken note of the potential to leverage these viewers and monetize Internet video by aggregating creator channels into multichannel networks.”

In the past year, traditional content companies like AMC Networks, Hearst Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. have invested over $640 million in MCNs, which are entities that aggregate multiple online video channels and provide assistance in funding, promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetization, and audience development. New services like Vessel provide access to digital content from NBA, Discovery Communications, and Universal Sports as well as independent creators like GloZell, Veritasium, and Weezy Waiter.

“Internet video is in the midst of significant changes,” Hower said. ”Online content creators, once representing a collection of popular but disparate viral videos, have emerged to establish audiences that contribute recurring viewership, much like traditional television and video.”

Hower will address the Internet video market during several sessions at CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference, May 19-21, in San Francisco. Executives from Gracenote, Ooyala, and Piksel will join him in the session "Multichannel Networks and Emerging Content Alternatives"to discuss MCN partnerships and the impact of the online video ecosystem on the traditional television and film industries.

More information about the report can be found at www.parksassociates.com. For more information about CONNECTIONS™, visit www.connectionsus.com and follow the conference on Twitter at @CONNECTIONS_US. To schedule a meeting with an analyst or speaker, contact Holly Sprague at [email protected], 720.987.6614.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

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