On June 17, 2008, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the Research Report on the Network Video Market and Netizens’ Video Consumption in China 2008 (hereinafter referred to as the Report). According to data, by the end of December 2007, the number of netizens using network video in China reached as high as 160 million, equivalent to one network video user among every 1.3 netizens. The competition in the network video industry in China is fierce but the prospect is good, and the industry is developing toward the direction of diversification and integration.
The Report is the first survey report issued by the CNNIC addressing the field of network video in China. The survey covers users in three tiers of cities in seven regions including North China, Northeast China and East China. The report publishes the history, current situation and trend of the development of network video in China as well as the research results on user conditions and users’ habits of use etc.
The income level of network video users is higher than that of netizens all over China
The Report shows that due to the popularization of broadband network, technical innovation such as CDN and P2P as well as relatively lenient copyright environment, the network video industry in China, after going through the period of exploration and development and the period of rapid popularization, entered the period of industry consolidation and reorganization in 2007, and is developing toward the direction of diversification and integration. According to the survey, the mainstream of the current network video industry in China is divided into four categories, video sharing, portal video, network TV and network video download, and the contents are from two major sources, professional content production organizations (TV media, film and TV production, music production and sports organization etc.) and the creation, reproduction and secondary processing of grassroots netizens.
According to the survey, the income level of network video users is higher than that of netizens all over China. In terms of gender, 44.7% of the video netizens are female, which is higher than the female proportion in the netizens all over the country, 42.7%; in terms of income, network video users whose monthly income is over RMB 2,000 yuan account for 30%, which is higher than the same proportion in the netizens of China, 26%. Families are the primary locations for network video consumption.
The number of users watching video with browsers is the largest, and the proportion of instant message sharing is the highest
According to the Report, the habitual browsing paths of netizens and the introduction of social circles are the two primary ways for video websites to be discovered, which respectively account for 65.9% and 63.7%, and occupy the first two places. Meanwhile, respectively 56.3% and 42.5% of the netizens get to know video websites through search engines and other website links. Besides the above ways, publicity and expansion of recognition through such forms as advertising, computer presetting or attachment to other software installation are also of certain value to video websites.
Seen from the survey results, Chinese netizens are more inclined to the entertainment consumption of network video. Films and TV plays are the contents receiving the most attention, far exceeding the other contents with a high proportion of 86.3%. However, the oldest consumer group with the highest income is mainly concerned with financial video programs. In terms of consumption methods, the number of netizens watching video sharing, portal video or broad frequency films and TV etc. through browsers is the largest, accounting for 64.2%. The other methods are mainly watching after downloading, network TV and watching while downloading.
Besides, the survey discovers that sharing has become a common method for video netizens to transmit contents by themselves. About 3/4 of the users indicated that they will share the network video contents that they had consumed with other netizens. But the survey also indicates that netizens sharing inclination is lower in regions that are more developed: such inclination in East China is lower than that in Southwest China, Northwest China and Central China. In terms of the method of sharing video contents, only a few people share then through blog and forum etc., and 94.1% of the people are used to transmit the webpage link address or content names of videos by such instant message tools as QQ and MSN.
Seen from the contents that netizens are concerned with, TV plays, films, sport and finance have become the hot spots of attention, which will promote the diversification of the contents of network video. The expansion in contents by video service providers, including cooperation with film and TV media, will become a trend of the industry.
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