THE FUTURE OF ONLINE NEWS VIDEO

Author
Majid Saadati
Researcher
Abstract
the last few years have seen an explosion of online video, driven by technical improvements, initiatives from
platforms like Facebook, and investment by media companies in new visual storytelling formats. but to what
extent are consumers embracing news video? is this an incremental addition to the digital landscape or
another fundamental disruption requiring urgent and immediate action?
in this reuters institute report, we combine data on video consumption and production from a number of key
sources with more than 30 interviews from news organisations across europe and North america. On the
basis of this evidence, we find the following:
• So far, the growth around online video news seems to be largely driven by technology, platforms, and
publishers rather than by strong consumer demand. website users in particular remain resistant to
online video news with only around 2.5% of average visit time spent on video pages in a range of 30
online news sites; 97.5% of time is still spent with text. around 75% of respondents to a reuters
institute survey of 26 countries said they only occasionally (or never) use video news online.
• Having said that, interest in video news does increase significantly when there is a big breaking news
story.

Highlights

Note: all urls were accessed in May 2016.
axel Springer. 2013. ‘axel Springer acquires N24/N24 and welt group Forming Multimedia News
company’, 9 december, http://www.axelspringer.de/en/presse/axel-Springer-acquires-N24-N24-
and-welt-group-forming-Multimedia-news-company_19647692.html.
bilton, r. 2016. ‘the guardian’s First vr Project Makes viewers experience the Horrors of Solitary
confinement’, Nieman Lab, 28 april, http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/04/the-guardians-first-vrproject-
makes-viewers-experience-the-horrors-of-solitary-confinement/.
calderone, M. 2013. ‘washington Post tv: Network launches two Political web Shows amid
video expansion’, The huffington Post, 29 July, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/
washington-post-tv-in-play-on-background_n_3668534.html.
cherubini, F. and Nielsen r. K. 2016. Editorial Analytics: Developing and Using Audience Data and
Metrics. Oxford: reuters institute for the Study of Journalism.
http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/editorial%20analytics%20-
%20how%20news%20media%20are%20developing%20and%20using%20audience%20data%20
and%20metrics.pdf.
digiday. 2015a. ‘Showing People what they want: a timeline of Facebook’s recent News Feed
tweaks’, 2 February, http://digiday.com/publishers/showing-people-want-timeline-facebooksrecent-
news-feed-tweaks/.
digiday. 2015b. ‘al Jazeera’s distributed content unit generated 2.2 billion Facebook video views
in 2015’, 13 January, http://digiday.com/publishers/al-jazeeras-distributed-content-unit-generated-
2-2-bil-facebook-video-views-2015/.
digiday. 2016. ‘Facebook loosens its video ad ban for Publishers’, 22 February,
http://digiday.com/platforms/facebook-opens-top-publishers-posting-clearly-commercial-videos/.
the drum. 2016. ‘guardian labs’ anna watkins on surviving the “adblockalypse” and keeping
editorial integrity with branded content’, 11 February,
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/02/11/guardian-labs-anna-watkins-surviving-adblockalypseand-
keeping-editorial-integrity.
eMarketer. 2016. ‘uS digital display ad Spending to Surpass Search ad Spending in 2016’, 11
Jan., http://www.emarketer.com/article/uS-digital-display-ad-Spending-Surpass-Search-ad-
Spending-2016/1013442.
ericsson. 2015. ‘ericsson Mobility report’, June,
https://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/ericsson-mobility-report-june-2015.pdf.
Fast company. 2016. ‘How buzzfeed’s Jonah Peretti is building a 100-year Media company’, 16
Feb., http://www.fastcompany.com/3056057/most-innovative-companies/how-buzzfeeds-jonahperetti-
is-building-a-100-year-media-company.
garrahan, M. and Mance, H. 2016. ‘buzzFeed slashes forecasts after missing 2015 targets’,
Financial Times, 12 april, https://next.ft.com/content/26ebf992-00c4-11e6-99cb-
83242733f755#axzz45vZwFveS.
griffith, e. 2015. ‘Facebook’s video Monetisation Plan is Here’, 1 July Fortune,
http://fortune.com/2015/07/01/facebook-video-monetization/.


guardian. 2016. ‘welcome to your cell’, no date given, http://www.theguardian.com/world/nginteractive/
2016/apr/27/6x9-a-virtual-experience-of-solitary-confinement.
Herrman, N. 2016. ‘Media websites battle Faltering ad revenue and traffic’, the New York Times,
17 april, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/business/media-websites-battle-falteringadrevenue-
and-traffic.html?_r=1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/business/media-websites-battle-falteringad-revenue-andtraffic.
html?_r=1.
iab. 2015. IAB/IAB/PwC UK Digital Adspend Study – Full Year 2015.
http://www.iabuk.net/research/digital-adspend.
iab. 2016. ‘intro & iab NewFronts research’, 2 May. http://www.iab.com/wpcontent/
uploads/2016/05/iab-NewFronts-research-excerpts.pdf.
Küng, l. 2015. Innovators in Digital News. london: i.b. tauris.
Marketingland. 2015. ‘top 10 video creators in October: buzzFeed tasty ranks No. 1 with 1.1
billion video views’, November, http://marketingland.com/top-10-video-creators-in-octoberbuzzfeed-
tasty-ranks-no-1-earning-1-1-billion-video-views-152906.
the Media briefing. 2015. ‘telegraph Media group's ben Sinden On How video content Shapes
the Future of Publishing’, 6 November, https://www.themediabriefing.com/video/video-telegraphmedia-
group-s-ben-sinden-on-how-video-content-shapes-the-future-of-publishing.
Newman, N. and levy, d. 2014. Digital News Report 2014. Oxford: reuters institute for the Study
of Journalism.
Newman, N., Fletcher, r., levy, d. and Nielsen, r. K. 2016. Digital News Report 2016. Oxford:
reuters institute for the Study of Journalism.
Newman, N., levy, d. and Nielsen, r. K. 2015. Digital News Report 2015. Oxford: reuters institute
for the Study of Journalism.
Newsrewired.com. 2016. ‘as it Happened: getting Social right: the challenges and
Opportunities of distributed video’, 16 March, https://www.newsrewired.com/2016/03/16/livegetting-
social-right-the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-distributed-video/.
Newswhip. 2016. ‘what Facebook’s New live video Features Mean for Publishers’, april,
https://www.newswhip.com/2016/04/what-facebook-live-video-means-forpublishers/#
ot3kOr2iS8eoxmlO.97.
Nielsen, r. K. and Sambrook, r. 2016. What Is happening to Television News. Oxford: reuters
institute for the Study of Journalism. http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/
what%20is%20happening%20to%20television%20news.pdf.
Spangler, t. 2016. ‘vice to launch Six New vertical Sites, 20 tv channels worldwide this Year’, 6
May, Variety, http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/vice-6-verticals-20-tv-channels-newfronts-
1201768418/.
Swant, M. 2016. ‘the economist is looking to bolster its content with virtual reality and Mobile
video’, 10 May, AdWeek, http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/economist-looking-bolsterits-
content-virtual-reality-and-mobile-video-171374.

Keywords

Note: all urls were accessed in May 2016.
axel Springer. 2013. ‘axel Springer acquires N24/N24 and welt group Forming Multimedia News
company’, 9 december, http://www.axelspringer.de/en/presse/axel-Springer-acquires-N24-N24-
and-welt-group-forming-Multimedia-news-company_19647692.html.
bilton, r. 2016. ‘the guardian’s First vr Project Makes viewers experience the Horrors of Solitary
confinement’, Nieman Lab, 28 april, http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/04/the-guardians-first-vrproject-
makes-viewers-experience-the-horrors-of-solitary-confinement/.
calderone, M. 2013. ‘washington Post tv: Network launches two Political web Shows amid
video expansion’, The huffington Post, 29 July, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/
washington-post-tv-in-play-on-background_n_3668534.html.
cherubini, F. and Nielsen r. K. 2016. Editorial Analytics: Developing and Using Audience Data and
Metrics. Oxford: reuters institute for the Study of Journalism.
http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/editorial%20analytics%20-
%20how%20news%20media%20are%20developing%20and%20using%20audience%20data%20
and%20metrics.pdf.
digiday. 2015a. ‘Showing People what they want: a timeline of Facebook’s recent News Feed
tweaks’, 2 February, http://digiday.com/publishers/showing-people-want-timeline-facebooksrecent-
news-feed-tweaks/.
digiday. 2015b. ‘al Jazeera’s distributed content unit generated 2.2 billion Facebook video views
in 2015’, 13 January, http://digiday.com/publishers/al-jazeeras-distributed-content-unit-generated-
2-2-bil-facebook-video-views-2015/.
digiday. 2016. ‘Facebook loosens its video ad ban for Publishers’, 22 February,
http://digiday.com/platforms/facebook-opens-top-publishers-posting-clearly-commercial-videos/.
the drum. 2016. ‘guardian labs’ anna watkins on surviving the “adblockalypse” and keeping
editorial integrity with branded content’, 11 February,
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/02/11/guardian-labs-anna-watkins-surviving-adblockalypseand-
keeping-editorial-integrity.
eMarketer. 2016. ‘uS digital display ad Spending to Surpass Search ad Spending in 2016’, 11
Jan., http://www.emarketer.com/article/uS-digital-display-ad-Spending-Surpass-Search-ad-
Spending-2016/1013442.
ericsson. 2015. ‘ericsson Mobility report’, June,
https://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/ericsson-mobility-report-june-2015.pdf.
Fast company. 2016. ‘How buzzfeed’s Jonah Peretti is building a 100-year Media company’, 16
Feb., http://www.fastcompany.com/3056057/most-innovative-companies/how-buzzfeeds-jonahperetti-
is-building-a-100-year-media-company.
garrahan, M. and Mance, H. 2016. ‘buzzFeed slashes forecasts after missing 2015 targets’,
Financial Times, 12 april, https://next.ft.com/content/26ebf992-00c4-11e6-99cb-
83242733f755#axzz45vZwFveS.
griffith, e. 2015. ‘Facebook’s video Monetisation Plan is Here’, 1 July Fortune,
http://fortune.com/2015/07/01/facebook-video-monetization/.
guardian. 2016. ‘welcome to your cell’, no date given, http://www.theguardian.com/world/nginteractive/
2016/apr/27/6x9-a-virtual-experience-of-solitary-confinement.
Herrman, N. 2016. ‘Media websites battle Faltering ad revenue and traffic’, the New York Times,
17 april, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/business/media-websites-battle-falteringadrevenue-
and-traffic.html?_r=1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/business/media-websites-battle-falteringad-revenue-andtraffic.
html?_r=1.
iab. 2015. IAB/IAB/PwC UK Digital Adspend Study – Full Year 2015.
http://www.iabuk.net/research/digital-adspend.
iab. 2016. ‘intro & iab NewFronts research’, 2 May. http://www.iab.com/wpcontent/
uploads/2016/05/iab-NewFronts-research-excerpts.pdf.
Küng, l. 2015. Innovators in Digital News. london: i.b. tauris.
Marketingland. 2015. ‘top 10 video creators in October: buzzFeed tasty ranks No. 1 with 1.1
billion video views’, November, http://marketingland.com/top-10-video-creators-in-octoberbuzzfeed-
tasty-ranks-no-1-earning-1-1-billion-video-views-152906.
the Media briefing. 2015. ‘telegraph Media group's ben Sinden On How video content Shapes
the Future of Publishing’, 6 November, https://www.themediabriefing.com/video/video-telegraphmedia-
group-s-ben-sinden-on-how-video-content-shapes-the-future-of-publishing.
Newman, N. and levy, d. 2014. Digital News Report 2014. Oxford: reuters institute for the Study
of Journalism.
Newman, N., Fletcher, r., levy, d. and Nielsen, r. K. 2016. Digital News Report 2016. Oxford:
reuters institute for the Study of Journalism.
Newman, N., levy, d. and Nielsen, r. K. 2015. Digital News Report 2015. Oxford: reuters institute
for the Study of Journalism.
Newsrewired.com. 2016. ‘as it Happened: getting Social right: the challenges and
Opportunities of distributed video’, 16 March, https://www.newsrewired.com/2016/03/16/livegetting-
social-right-the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-distributed-video/.
Newswhip. 2016. ‘what Facebook’s New live video Features Mean for Publishers’, april,
https://www.newswhip.com/2016/04/what-facebook-live-video-means-forpublishers/#
ot3kOr2iS8eoxmlO.97.
Nielsen, r. K. and Sambrook, r. 2016. What Is happening to Television News. Oxford: reuters
institute for the Study of Journalism. http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/
what%20is%20happening%20to%20television%20news.pdf.
Spangler, t. 2016. ‘vice to launch Six New vertical Sites, 20 tv channels worldwide this Year’, 6
May, Variety, http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/vice-6-verticals-20-tv-channels-newfronts-
1201768418/.
Swant, M. 2016. ‘the economist is looking to bolster its content with virtual reality and Mobile
video’, 10 May, AdWeek, http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/economist-looking-bolsterits-
content-virtual-reality-and-mobile-video-171374.
Society Culture Media
Volume 7, Issue 27
Summer 2018
Pages 129-144

  • Receive Date 15 December 2018