MCNs ‘key to reaching younger viewers’

Multichannel networks are “key to reaching younger online video viewers”, with millennials watching 5.5 hours of internet video per week on smartphones and six hours per week on tablets, according to Parks Associates.

The US-based research firm claims that there will be more than 200 million online video viewers in North America by 2016 with 18 to 24 year-olds, or millennials, “often favouring short-form YouTube content like PewDiePie and Jenna Marbles”.

“Millennials, who watch the most internet video content, have been a difficult demographic for content providers and distributors to reach,” said Glenn Hower, research analyst, Parks Associates. “As audiences for internet video personalities grow, content companies have taken note of the potential to leverage these viewers and monetise internet video by aggregating creator channels into multichannel networks.”

Hower added: “Internet video is in the midst of significant changes. Online content creators, once representing a collection of popular but disparate viral videos, have emerged to establish audiences that contribute recurring viewership, much like traditional television and video.”