In recent years, video has become one of the most popular online formats, spanning from educational content to product reviews. During the third quarter of 2024, music videos recorded the highest category reach, with almost half of internet users worldwide reporting to watch music videos online each week. Social video engagement In recent years, YouTube and TikTok have become two of the most important social media platforms for global users, as video content commands high levels of engagement. In 2024, users worldwide spent approximately 28.4 hours using the YouTube mobile app per month. Additionally, the leading hashtags used by content creators on TikTok have amassed billions of views: as of January 2024, the TikTok hashtag “fyp” or “for you page” had reached 55 and 35 billion post views, respectively. Watching content: what device do users prefer? In 2023, televisions were the most used devices for global viewers to watch video-on-demand (VOD), with 55 percent of respondents reporting using these devices. In comparison, 13 percent of respondents reported using smartphones. Age group and generation are factors impacting viewership habits and device preferences, as younger users appear to prefer using their smartphones to consume content. According to a March 2024 survey, U.S. users aged 18-34 years were more likely to watch video content on smartphones than any other devices. By comparison, connected TVs were particularly popular for the online video audience aged 35 and older.

In 2023, digital video consumption surpassed TV viewing time for the second time in the United States. Additionally, the forecast shows that streaming video on connected TV, mobile devices, and computers will continue to increase, reaching a viewing time of over three hours and 30 minutes in 2028. Meanwhile, traditional TV consumption is likely to further decline in the upcoming years.

In 2024, social video platforms and video content recorded around 52 minutes of daily engagement on average among users in the United States. The amount of time spent watching social video among users in the country was projected to reach 48 minutes per day in 2023, and about daily 57 minutes by the end of 2028.

According to a survey of global consumers conducted between 2021 and the end of 2023, watching live television was consistently more popular than online video consumption in the examined period. In the fourth quarter of 2024, 61 percent of global consumers reported watching streamed video content, while the share of consumers worldwide reporting watching live television was approximately 67 percent.

In 2021, more than eight in 10 video watchers in the United States aged between 18 and 24 years watched videos on YouTube. Among U.S. audiences aged 25 and above, YouTube viewership was 68 percent. Instagram, which introduced its video feature Instagram Reels in August 2020, saw 66 percent of video audiences aged between 18 and 24 years watch video content on the platform in the examined period.

According to a March 2024 survey of users in the United States, 79 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 years used their smartphones to watch online video content weekly. By comparison, only around two in 10 respondents of the same age group reported using their tablet devices for the same activity. Connected TVs were particularly popular for the online video audience aged 35 and older, while smartphones were less popular among users aged 55 years and older.

A survey conducted between July and October 2020 revealed that 61 percent of Generation Z and Millennials were watching more videos on social media apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. A further 56 percent claimed watching more videos on streaming platforms on television, while 52 percent were more inclined to stream videos on their smartphones.

In 2023, TikTok counted approximately 1.9 billion users worldwide, up by around 40 percent compared to 2021. Launched in 2017 as the international version of Chinese-developed social media Douyin, TikTok rose to popularity in 2020, reaching a peak of approximately 313.5 million downloads during the first quarter of the year. The popular social media platform is forecasted to reach approximately 2.35 billion users in 2029.

According to a survey conducted in Fall 2023 among Generation Z video consumers in the United States, approximately 29.3 percent of the time they spent engaging with video format was spent on YouTube. This represents a small increase compared to the corresponding period in 2022, when teens in the U.S. spent around 29 percent of their online video time on the popular social video platform.

According to a survey conducted in Japan in November 2023, 76.7 percent of the respondents watched free TV broadcasting on non-working days. The share was almost equally high in the case of working days. The survey showed that free broadcasting was the most commonly used type among the different kinds of video media, followed by free video streaming services and movie theaters.

This statistic displays the results of a survey about the generational comparison among Indians in urban areas about their source of video consumption in July 2018. About 82 percent of Gen-Z respondents watched TV content and entertainment videos online, while this was about 40 percent among Gen-X consumers during the survey period.

According to a survey, one third of consumers worldwide spent one to five hours watching paid video streaming services in a typical week as of the second quarter of 2021. In comparison, 12 percent of respondents used those services 15 hours and more on a weekly basis.

This statistic shows the online video consumption rate in the United States in 2016. During the survey period it was found that 27 percent of U.S. internet users watched online videos weekly.

The graph shows data on digital news video consumption in the United States as of July 2013. It was found that 36 percent of the U.S. population watched online news videos.

According to a survey conducted in March 2024, 58 percent of adults in the United States aged 18 to 34 used their devices to watch digital videos on a daily basis. Additionally, 28 percent of U.S. adults aged 35 to 54 used their devices to watch a digital video once a week or more. Only around 36 percent of respondents aged 55 and older watched online videos daily.

According to a survey of internet users conducted in June 2023 in the United Kingdom, 77 percent of users aged between 25 and 44 years reported using Facebook at least monthly, while over 85 percent of users in the same age reported using YouTube monthly. Overall, 74 percent of social media users aged between 13 and 17 years reported engaging with TikTok, while 90 percent reported engaging with YouTube, while Instagram was used by 53 percent of respondents in the same demographic.

This statistic shows data on the preferred time for online video consumption during the weekend in the United States in 2014. During the survey period it was found that during the weekend, 31 percent of U.S. internet users watched online videos in the afternoon.

This statistic shows data on the preferred room for home online video consumption in the United States in 2014. During the survey period it was found that 36 percent of U.S. internet users watched online videos in their bedroom.

According to a survey conducted among consumers worldwide, respondents watched an average of 19 hours of online video content per week in 2022. This represented an increase from 2021, when consumers watched 19 hours of online video content weekly.

According to a survey conducted in the United States in August 2023, 41 percent of Americans used subtitles or closed captions when watching television or movies, while 37 percent use external speakers. This usage of tools during TV and movie consumption differed considerably between the surveyed generations. Gen Z and millennials were twice as likely to use subtitles and closed captions than Gen X and baby boomers in the United States. Likewise, the share of headphone and external speakers users was generally more than 10 percentage points higher among these younger two generations.