Does Online video still suck?

ONLINE VIDEO: HOW DOES IT REALLY STACK UP AGAINST TV?

WeShow human-powered guide to make online video as entertaining & organised as television

With media commentators in both the UK and US predicting that the Internet is rapidly replacing television as the preferred viewing medium for many, a Kelton Research survey commissioned by WeShow (www.weshow.co.uk) reveals that the online video viewing experience still leaves a lot to be desired for many users. 

Research commissioned by the BBC in November 2006 found that 22% of the UK population watch videos online.  43% of Britons who watch video from the Internet or on a mobile device at least once a week claimed to watch less TV as a result, the survey found.

The Kelton Research survey, conducted in June 2007 via an email invitation and online survey, found that while a staggering 126 million people in the US alone view online videos, 96% cannot find the videos they are looking for when initially conducting a search for specific content, and 61% were simply overwhelmed by the amount of online videos that exist.

Marcos Wettreich, founder of WeShow, explains: “With the majority of UK and US internet users now having broadband access at home, the online video world needs to put its house in order if it is to truly become a viable alternative to television.  Currently it is only the ‘net savvy surfer who reaps the most from this digital revolution.  What is required is an online video experience that is as entertaining as television and crucially, requires no investment of time while delivering content suited to individual user needs.”

With country specific portals available in the UK, North America and Brazil, WeShow (www.weshow.co.uk) has created a human powered guide that organises the chaos that is the online video world and delivers to its users a convenient, easy-to-navigate view of high quality videos from around the world.

WeShow has already attracted multi-million dollar backing from private investors and the Manhattan based Pilot Group, a specialist media investment firm.  Marcos Wettreich, founder of WeShow and former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year, has been responsible for a number of successful Internet start-ups, including iBest, Brazil’s top independent ISP.  WeShow will introduce further country specific sites in selected Asian and European countries later this year.

Unlike many existing video sites that depend solely on search technologies to provide relevant content, WeShow couples technology with country specific teams of specially trained surfers to deliver content through a comprehensive channel system.  It also runs the WeShow Awards, the world’s biggest online video contest, representing the best videos from across video sites around the world.  The WeShow Awards enables anyone to choose their favourite videos from among the best online.

WeShow users can also request a newsletter, targeted to their own viewing habits.  The WeShow TV programme highlights daily some of the best video content available from around the world.

WeShow’s editorial team selects the very best videos from repository sites (such as YouTube, MySpace, DailyMotion & Metacafe) and offers its audience approximately 200 channels through which to view them.  By carefully choosing quality content from over 20 video repository sites, WeShow can offer its audiences the most entertaining user generated content on the internet. 

“By consolidating the highest quality and most popular content from across the Internet into a simple and personalised view of all the top quality videos from around the world, WeShow is making online video a pure entertainment experience similar to that of television,” says Wettreich.

Other key findings from the Kelton Research survey were:

• Ultimate frustration: 94% of Americans say that they do not always find what they are looking for at all when searching for specific online videos, with this always or frequently being the case for 1 in 5 (16%) of users.

• Wanting More: 91% felt that there are many online videos they would enjoy or find useful that they are missing out on, with nearly 1 in 3 (29%) saying this happens to them most of the time.  Almost all (98%) of those aged 18-29 have experienced this feeling, 42% saying it happens always or often.

• Time poor: More than 4 in 10 (41%) reported that they don’t watch more videos online because they don’t want to spend time trawling through a long list of search results to find what they are looking for.  46% of men were turned off by lengthy search result lists compared to 38% of women.

• Content confusion: Nearly half (47%) would shy away from using a specific online video site if it had too many videos of poor quality or questionable content, with a further 37% admitting disdain for sites that have inaccurate or confusing organisation of videos by category or topic.

• Organisation out of chaos: Almost half (47%) would watch online videos more often if they were to have pre-screened and organised online videos made available to them.  And almost 6 in 10 (58%) of 18-29 year olds agreed that this would make them want to watch more online videos.

Survey Information

The BBC survey referenced was conducted by ICM in the UK between 17-19 November 2006.  ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,008 adults (18+) from its ICM online panel, plus a further random sample of 1,062 people aged 16+ by telephone.

The Kelton Research survey was carried out in June 2007 using an email invitation and an online survey.  Quotas were set to ensure accurate representation of the total US population in regard to the country’s age, regional and income distributions.  Results of any sample are subject to sampling variations.  The magnitude of the variation is measurable and affected by the number of interviews and the level of percentages expressing the results.  In this particular survey, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

About WeShow  www.weshow.co.uk