Rise in migration from TV to Online in primetime.

A surprisingly high percentage of people are putting down their remote controls and heading to the Web to watch their favorite primetime TV shows, according to a new report released by Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI).

With an increasing number of network television shows available for viewing on the Web, television viewers are embracing the opportunity. According to IMMI data, more than 20 percent of people watch some amount of primetime television programming online.

The IMMI data also tracked participants’ behavior, showing that within the group of online viewers, 50 percent are watching programming as it becomes available and appear to be beginning to use the computer as a substitute for the television set. The other 50 percent are using the Web as a tool to watch past programming they have missed, or to re-watch segments of episodes they have already seen.

The data also showed that, in several instances, online viewing of a particular program was higher than DVR viewing of that same program, suggesting that the fairly large segment of non-DVR owners are adopting the computer for time-shifting rather than buying a DVR.

“This is the first study to show there are a significant amount of people watching primetime shows online who are not watching some portion of those shows on television,” said Amanda Welsh, head of research for IMMI. “Everyone’s been talking about the Internet becoming a substitute for television; however this is the first single-source passive data to show that the migration from one platform to another is actually occurring – and it’s happening fast.”

The report also showed the largest segment of online television viewers are white, affluent, well educated, working women aged 25-44.

To view report CLICK on link below (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):
http://www.immi.com/pdfs/OnlineViewership.pdf>