Friday, March 16, 2001

One in Seven Britons Online Use Streaming Media

One in five Internet users in Spain used "streaming media" from home in January, according to Internet monitoring company NetValue. This makes the Spanish the keenest home users of streaming media in the European countries included in the study (Denmark, the UK, France and Germany) and keener than US users.

"Streaming" media means audio or video files that are viewed live, rather than having to download them onto a PC before playing them. These files could be songs, videos, news reports, sports coverage or any other audio or video content.

Almost one in seven (14.1 percent) Internet users in the UK used streaming media, a total of 1,585,404 individuals. UK users are older than their continental counterparts, with 57 percent over 35. Only 38 percent of Spanish users of streaming media are over 35.

"UK users are older, and they are more likely to use streaming media to watch or listen to the news - bbc.co.uk is the second most popular site for streaming media", said NetValue's Alki Manias. "Our research shows that 67 percent of visitors to the news section of the site (news.bbc.co.uk) are 35 and over."

US users spent the most time using streaming media in January, spending an average of 60 minutes. UK users were in second position, spending 30 minutes, with German users spending just 12 minutes.

The US has the highest percentage of women using streaming media (40 percent), whilst only one in five streaming media users in Spain is female.

Spain has the highest percentage of young media streaming users, with 39 percent of users aged 24 or under. The average in other countries is 23 percent. The UK and the US have the highest percentage of users aged between 35-49.

Real.com was the top audio/visual site in the US, UK, Germany and Spain. Real.com hosts the content of many different sites. Bbc.co.uk was the second most visited audio-video site in the UK.

PC-Based Internet To Be Eclipsed In Europe By ITV
Digital TV (DTV) will surpass PC-based Internet penetration in Western Europe by 2005, making DTV-based interactive services, or ITV, the more popular means of accessing the Internet by the middle of this decade, according to two new reports from the Yankee Group's Internet Strategies Europe group. By 2005, the reports state, 81.2 million households will have DTV-based ITV services, compared with 80.6 million PC-based Internet households. This compares with a forecast of 24.5 million DTV households against 45.4 million households for PC-based Internet for 2001.

"While many observers recognize the growing importance of ITV as a medium in Europe, we believe that a number of positive factors conspire to position ITV as the mass-market interactive medium of choice in coming years" said Scott Smith, Director of the Internet Strategies Europe (ISE) group at the Yankee Group. "The ability of operators to push digital set-top boxes into TV homes, and the ease with which new interactive services can be introduced to the consumer look promising when combined with the emerging picture of likely usage habits of the Western European Internet consumer - interested in Internet via their TV, eager for known brand names to deliver services, and cost- and space-conscious regarding new devices."

The two reports, "Prime Time Nears for Interactive TV in Europe," and "Look Out Internet, Here Comes ITV," look at two sides of the market. The first report breaks down supply and demand drivers for the emergence of powerful ITV services, and the second delivers forecasts for DTV-based ITV expansion, and expected revenues to be made from these services, including pay-per-view services and t-commerce.

"We believe ITV in Europe will soon begin to siphon off many of the potential middle-market and low-end users that ISPs target today through low-cost services," said Andy Greenman, senior analyst in ISE and author of the two reports. "We don't believe the broad middle market of Internet consumers in the next five to seven years will want to hassle with ISPs, PC configuration and cost, and an open Web-surfing experience when they can effectively have a walled garden that allows shopping, banking, and entertainment services from familiar names, at a low cost, without having to do much more than allow their set-top box provider to push them new services. The growth we expect in ITV will begin to have profound consequences regarding the shape of alliances and service development in the interactive arena in Europe."

The reports identifies key customer groups likely to take ITV services, including:

- Third Wave Adopters - This is the key mass-market group of Internet users to come. They may not be able to afford a PC, but have an interest in tapping the new basic interactive services available over ITV, such as e-mail, banking, shopping, gambling, and travel services.

- Aggressive Early Adopters - This group is eager to acquire a second interactive device in the home, but not at the cost or space requirements of a new PC.

Other key points in the reports include:

- The rise of t-commerce revenues will be swift, from a forecasted $267.5 million today across Europe, to just over $17 billion by 2006.

- Broadcast media companies and entertainment conglomerates will begin to exert significant power as ITV's growth accelerates. Cable and satellite operators will begin to be viewed as key partners for reaching the mainstream consumer through interactive channels.

- ITV will become a powerful broadband medium, as it provides a better platform for rich, interactive media delivery than the PC, and can integrate interactivity with content more directly.

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