In June 2016, YouTube and comScore released a survey based on 2,940 users. The ‘Die Hard YouTube users were aged between 18-34, that is Millennials. The study relates to the discovery and engagement with video content. Below are the key findings:

Adults Prefer Online Video Channels over Television

Adults prefer to watch online video channels 30% more when compared to programs on television. When comparing the two with the millennials, that percentage increases to 105%.

YouTube preference is nearly twice that of TV among Millennials.

People prefer YouTube over other video platforms

It is no surprise to see that the most popular video platform is YouTube followed by Netflix and Facebook.

What type of content do users prefer the most?

It is interesting to see that users prefer to watch video content uploaded by other people then followed by content uploaded by brands, companies and institutions.

Contrary to the belief that Television and YouTube sit on opposite ends of the content spectrum, it was found that 1 in 8 millennials considers YouTube their preferred destination for watching current season TV shows.

Millennials are high digital video viewers

37% of millennials binge watch on a daily basis compared to only 14% of users 35 years and older who binge watch on a daily basis.

YouTube Die Hard profile

The die hard YouTubers are;  mainly parents, 49% are females, 51% are employed full time and 43% of them have kids.

YouTube Advertising Receptivity

62% of millennials take action after viewing an ad on YouTube and 47% said they pay more attention when viewing a personalised ad. They are however more responsive to brands that have earned their loyalty.

The future of digital video

This study provides some glimpse of what video viewing patterns will be in the next 5 to 10 year.

• Millennials adopt a digital first approach to video discovery and are platform agnostics when it comes to video engagement.
• This fragmented video viewing environment will further expand and digital will play a key role in the distribution and engagement of video content.
•  Video will meet consumers desires to immerse themselves into the content they like, for example, binge viewing episodes after episodes of their favourite series or music video after music video of their favourite artist.

By Manesh Ram, Digital Marketing Specialist. Please follow @maneshram & Meta