Overall, 57% of adult internet users say they watch or download video content online. On a typical day, 19% report watching or downloading some type of online video content. Other estimates, which include the passive viewing of online video, such as “in-banner” advertising embedded in many popular websites, suggest the online video viewing audience may be even larger.³ However, for the purposes of our survey, we were primarily interested in interviewing those who actively seek out and watch online video.

In keeping with other media consumption trends, a familiar refrain rings loud and clear: It’s a broadband thing.

Three-quarters of broadband users (74%) who enjoy high-speed connections at both home and work watch or download video online. Looking separately at those who have access to a high-speed connection at home, 66% report online video consumption, compared with just 39% of home dial-up users who watch or download video. Among those home dial-up users who watch video, nearly half of them (44%) say they have access to a high-speed connection at work, while the remaining half have dial-up connections at work or no type of internet access at work. Isolating that segment of home dial-up users who are truly relegated to slow connections and do not have broadband at work, just 31% say they have watched or downloaded video online.   

Frequency of internet use is often bolstered by having an always-on high-speed connection, and this reality is coupled with a greater propensity for daily internet users to watch and download video. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of daily internet users consume video content online at least from time to time, while just 40% who are online several times per week do so.