Odds are, you weren't watching Susan Boyle's greatest hits on New Year's Eve. Well, you weren't alone.
Over the holidays, our Video Metrics Engine recorded a drop off in views across the world of online video. We investigated further, sampling over 1.1 billion views from the past two months. The results confirmed our initial suspicions: online video views dropped off during the holidays, ranging from 13% to 30%.
Before we continue with the results, a brief note on our analysis. If you're a frequent reader of our research, you know that we primarily focus on the breakout hits and the big ideas of viral video – the Susan Boyles, JK Wedding Dances, and Balloon Boys of the world, along with our industry-wide charts for viral video ads, online film trailers, webisodes, auto ads, and the most-watched videos ever. We measure these phenomena with a metric we call True Reach™, the combination of brand-driven and consumer-driven video content, sourced from our Viral Reach Database. This holiday analysis, however, focuses on views across the world of online video. We measure these views directly through our patented Video Metrics Engine, which tracks every interaction with a video player instrumented with our code.
For the meatier holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, online video views begin to slow the day before, hitting their lowest point on the holiday itself, gradually sliding back to normal rates in about two days. For the party holiday – New Year's Eve and Day – views take a sharp drop the day of and then snap back the day after.
This drop in online video viewing activity is likely due to a number of factors. The holidays are a time for families to come together and enjoy each other outside of the reality of the daily grind. There's a lot of eating, drinking, conversation, and, generally, merriment. There's also wide variety of traditional entertainment options during the holidays – live events (parades and countdowns), sports (especially football and basketball), holiday specials, holiday films, and more.
Which holidays affect viewing behavior the most? Our results show that Christmas takes the cake, causing a 30% drop in viewers. Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve follow, falling 23% and 22%, respectively. New Year's Eve slips to 18% and New Year's Day only sees a 13% drop.
What do you think of the results? Do they match your family's online video viewing habits? As always, we'd love to hear what you think!
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The data for this post was sourced from our Video Metrics Engine, our patented system for capturing online video audience behavior in its entirety in real-time.
