UK Lags Behind In Paid Online Video Content

Pioneer Online cites lack of content in mainstream channels and earlier exposure to paid video downloads as reasons for US lead.
Pioneer Online, an Internet TV specialist created by UK independent producer Pioneer Productions, revealed initial user data which showed that North America is currently leading video download sales from FirstScience.com, leaving UK users - who account for nearly a fifth of the website's audience - trailing behind with negligible sales.
Research shows that 63% of approximately half a million visits to Firstscience.com each month come from the US and Canada, and over two-thirds of the video download sales have been made there. Plus more sales of the English-language popular science TV programmes have also been made to non-English speaking territories than to the UK since the TV download trial began in December 2006.
Gideon Summerfield, Managing Director for Pioneer Online, says: "We've been really surprised by our findings but are pleased to have such a massive international audience. This does however confirm that the UK is still way behind the US in the paid online video use market. And that's disappointing.
"We think it's because people in the US have been exposed for much longer to paid online video services. Apple's iTunes Video Store, for instance, has been operating there for 18 months and movie download sites like CinemaNow for several years. It's unfortunate that high-profile services, like the BBC's iPlayer, have not been available in the UK sooner so that consumers here could become more familiar with the technology."
Pioneer Online's greater than expected proportion of download sales in the US has also been linked to the lack of science and high-quality documentary content in mainstream channels there, compared with the UK.
What has been welcomed by Pioneer Online is the higher than anticipated sales in non-English territories. Nearly a quarter of all sales have been made in Mainland Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Asia.
These users include well-educated academics and experts, and ex-pats who may be limited in the amount of English-speaking TV they can access through local broadcasts.
(SP)