A study of the online video audience by comScore and Media Contacts, the global interactive media network of Havas Media, released last week, analyzed the frequency and type of video content that is viewed by different kinds of users. It started by labeling users heavy, moderate and light video viewers who watch from 841 minutes all the way down to six minutes per month. The heavy users frequent niche video-sharing sites, while moderate users view specific video content on broadcast TV sites rather than viewing general video-sharing sites.
YouTube is the overall leader among all groups, used by 54 percent of viewers.
The study contrasted online video viewing with TV viewing and found that light video viewers are heavier TV watchers, with 46 percent indicating they watch more than 13 hours of TV per week compared with 39 percent of moderate viewers and 30 percent of heavy viewers.
The study also segemented video viewers into four distinct groups based on the way they consume videos: Content Explorers, On Demanders, Sight & Sounders and Television Devotees. The groups were created “to discover how best to reach and message online different kinds of video viewers,” said Jarvis Mak, VP of research and insight at Media Contacts.
Mak said the research will benefit publishers by “giving them a common way of thinking about the same audience so they can develop their offerings to appeal to different segments.” As for advertisers, “it gives them a tangible way to think about their online video efforts and whether or not they are reaching their audience in the right ways.
“We will reach a point where networks/video publishers are offering their video content in many environments–their own Web sites, at an aggregator like Maven or Veoh, or even a portal. All those environments may show the same content but attach different forms of advertising. Those different forms of advertising will appeal to different segments. So how do advertisers know which sites are best? They need to understand their audience and their preferences.”
Yorick Le Saux Connects With Writer-Director Steve McQueen On “Blitz”
When opportunity knocked, cinematographer Yorick Le Saux, AFC couldn’t answer in the affirmative--though he desperately wanted to. Scheduling conflicts forced him to turn down overtures from director Steve McQueen on a couple of occasions--the first being for a commercial, followed several years later by a query as to the DP’s availability for what turned out to be the acclaimed Small Axe anthology. Thankfully, though, the third time proved to be the charm as McQueen once again reached out to Le Saux and the two wound up collaborating together on Blitz (Apple Original Films). McQueen, a Best Picture Oscar winner for 12 Years a Slave, wrote and directed Blitz, which makes its streaming debut today (11/22) on Apple TV+ after a wide theatrical release. Blitz, short for the Germans’ blitzkrieg bombing of London during World War II, is told largely through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy, George (portrayed by Elliott Heffernan), whose single mom, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), had made the heartaching decision to send him to the countryside with thousands of other schoolchildren to flee the devastating aerial attacks. The prospect of being separated from his mother and grandfather is traumatic for George who at his young age has also felt the sting of prejudice, having been ridiculed about his mixed-race heritage. Le Saux shared that going into Blitz, his only connection to World War II was what he heard about it from his parents and grandparents. But he was eager to work with McQueen and found that upon delving deeper into the subject matter he felt a profound bond to the story, which carries relevance to today. Le Saux said this gave him a sense of purpose to help realize the writer-director’s vision for the... Read More