7 of 10 Indian web users watch online video in a month

Nasdaq listed company comScore today reported 72 per cent of the 30.2 million total online population of India watch videos on the Internet in January 2011.

"Online video viewing is quickly becoming a central activity for Internet users in India," said Joe Nguyen, comScore Vice President for Southeast Asia in a statement released by Asianet.

In January 2011, 30.2 million internet users in the age group of 15 and older watched online video in India from home or work location, with an average viewer consuming 58 videos and watching 5 hours of video content during the month, the report said.

The report also found that Google sites led the market as top video property, driven mainly by viewership at YouTube.com.

"More than 23.5 million viewers watched a total of 785 million videos on google sites with viewers averaging 1.7 viewing hours during the month. Viewership at Google sites was mainly driven by YouTube.com which accounted for 780.7 million videos, representing 44.5 percent of all videos views in India in January," said the report.

The study ranked Facebook second with 6.6 million viewers and 30.1 million videos being viewed followed by Metacafe in third place with 3.9 million viewers.

India-based properties Network 18 and Rediff.com Ltd. both ranked among the top 10 largest video properties reaching 1.2 million and 861,000 viewers, respectively.

The report has been based on data from the comScore Video Metrix service, launched in the country earlier this year.

"As broadband penetration in India continues to increase, we expect to see online video continue to grow and become an increasingly important channel for marketers to reach audiences in the burgeoning Indian online market," said Nguyen.

Compared to several countries, India displayed lower online video reach and audience engagement. In the US, Brazil, UK and Singapore, more than 80 per cent of online visitors watched video in January, while video reached 78.6  per cent of Australians online.

The report points out that although India currently exhibits lower online video penetration and engagement when compared to some other markets, the potential exists for this burgeoning online market to see continued growth in the online video platform as a key part of consumers' digital experience.