Revenue, Schmevenue; Let’s Talk International Video Consumption

Dude, eMarketer, you’ve gotta make up your mind. Yesterday you’re all doom and gloom about online video revenue, and today you announce, “The Future of Online Video Looks Bright.” What gives?

Well, turns out this new report is more a compilation of research about video consumption from throughout the year. There’s a section about monetization, but it cites Strategy Analytics revenue forecasts rather than eMarketer’s own data. What eMarketer wants to talk about is video viewership — which is still on its way up, of course. The firm says says the U.S. audience for online video will hit 190 million by 2012, when viewers of online video advertising are forecast to reach 174.8 million in 2012.

It’s that recurring theme popping up again: When it comes to online video, traffic is always good, but there’s no money to speak of. But if we’re going to talk consumption, let’s talk consumption. Though its focus is on the U.S., eMarketer did do a valuable service in digging up some charts of international data.

The Philippines, as it turns out, is the stronghold of online video, with 98.7 percent of its Internet users watching video in 2008, according to research by Universal McCann. That’s a remarkable jump from 39.9 percent of the Internet population just two years ago. China, Spain, South Korea and the UK are all reporting percentages in the 80s this year. At the back of the pack are France and Russia, with percentages in the 60s.

According to Cisco research from earlier this year, global online video traffic via PC will reach 1,346 petabytes this year, while global online video traffic via TV (which includes Internet-enabled set-top-boxes) will hit only 330 petabytes. As both categories rise, PC growth will still outpace TV but only by doubling: In 2012, Cisco predicts 6,216 petabytes of online video via PC traffic, compared to 3,529 petabytes via TV. Western Europe leads the way in both categories, with Asia-Pacific stronger when it comes to PC and North America stronger on the TV.