Online video sharing sites enjoy surge as US writers’ strike continues

January 14, 2008 – Online video sharing websites are enjoying a surge in demand as the writers’ strike in the US continues to affect TV schedules in the country.

According to net measurement firm Nielsen Online, some online video websites have doubled their audience since the writers’ strike began at the end of last October, while figures from the Pew Internet Project have highlighted a more long-term growth of growth of video sharing sites.  The latter study has found that the audience to sites such as YouTube has nearly doubled in the past year.  According to the Pew Internet Project, 48% of US Internet users visited a video sharing site in 2007.

The writers’ strike has meant that many popular US shows are currently off-air, causing Americans to turn to online alternatives, according to Nielsen Online.  Its figures show that YouTube’s audience was up 18% in the two months following the start of the strike, and newer video sharing sites such as Crackle have also enjoyed strong growth.  Crackle had an audience of 1.2mn users in September and October 2007, increasing to 2.4mn in November and December 2007.

“That is a greater period of growth than you would normally see in such a short period and the strike could be a possible factor,” said Nielsen analyst Alex Burmaster.

Around 54% of adults in the US are estimated to have a high-speed Internet connection at home, compared to 45% at the same time last year.