NBC Prez: Daytime is Primetime for Online Video

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA—In a keynote presentation entitled “What Magazines Can Learn from TV” at the American Magazine Conference here, Beth Comstock, NBC’s president of integrated media, said that in terms of online video consumption, daytime is the new primetime, and digital content producers must embrace change in media consumption habits to survive.

Citing NBC research, Comstock said 72 percent of Internet users have streamed video at least once a month in the last year. “We’re finding that workers are no longer taking cigarette breaks,” Comstock said. “They’re taking Internet breaks to catch up on the latest videos.”

Long-form video, Comstock said, is rising alongside broadband Internet connections. “There’s been an absolute explosion—500 percent—in people streaming television episodes online.”

This, in part, is why NBC partnered with rival News Corp. for today’s launch of hulu.com—an online video destination that favors length and quality over viral hits or NBC.com’s content targeted to fan communities for shows like Heroes.

Beyond video, Comstock said she is intrigued by the “virtual economies” that have sprung up in social networking worlds like SecondLife. “The fact is there is a real economy there,” Comstock said. “People are spending real money on virtual assets.”

Comstock said she hoped the potential for success of sites like Hulu would encourage collaboration among magazines and television companies.

Post Comment / Discuss This Story - Info/Rules