New research indicates that online video is becoming more mainstream as it finds greater audiences with both women and adults over the age of 35.

Ipsos MediaCT released data from its MOTION study that found that since late last year, the percentage of female Internet users 12 and older who have streamed an online video in the past 30 days has grown from 45 percent to 54 percent. This higher percentage is almost equal to that of men who recently streamed online video (58 percent).

Also, the number of adults aged 35 – 54 who recently streamed online video has jumped to 60 percent, up from 49 percent in December 2007.

Of course, there is more video content that would appeal to this older demographic online than ever before. All the major networks are putting their TV programming online, and the ease of accessing it and the quality of the video streams are only getting better.

In July, Integrated Media Measurement found that 50 percent of online viewers consider watching prime-time network shows online a replacement for TV watching; 31 percent were streaming episodes as catchup; and almost 19 percent were streaming episodes to fill in episodes they missed or re-watch them. All three groups in the Integrated study trended towards affluent, well-educated 25- to 44-year old Caucasian professionals, reinforcing Ipsos’ study.