OhMyHeartness for Hulu.com and Consumer Behavior

Bye bye TV.

My recent consistent usage of hulu.com helps to demonstrate the way young people consume content. I stopped distinguishing between “video online” and “video on TV” a long time ago. The way I watch “video” has nothing to do with air time or brand loyalty. Here are my content viewing factors:

– geography

– mood

– current interest

At work I watch strictly short form content. Some if it is for research and some of it is background noise while I do my job. Usually it is a clip that a friend sent me or posted on their Facebook profile or on their Twitter. I don’t have the time or the desire to watch long form content at work. A lot of short form content is less professionally produced, but at work I am more willing to sample it because I am paying less attention.

I do know plenty of people who watch long form content at work, however. Some of these people have customer service positions where there are huge lulls in the day and watching video fills the void. They end up spending more than half of their day watching video because their is nothing else to do. If they don’t have cable at home, they will often catch shows online that are offered on the show website or as illegal copies on YouTube.

At home I use DVR – I don’t ever need to wait for a show. I watch things when I want to. And although I have premium cable right in the next room, most recently I have been watching over 50% of my video online on hulu.com in my bedroom. It specifically relates to my recent old/new obsession with The Office. I will be laying in bed reading and it will occur to me that I want to watch The Office. I don’t DVR the show, I will simply go to hulu.com where it streams clearly on my computer monitor near by bed, with minimal commercial interruption.

Lately I have been watching Squidbillies on adultswim.com rather than on TV.

Reason? They have been posting the episodes ahead of the air time (midnight on Sundays) and since I am such a huge fan, I would rather not be in front of my TV on Sunday at midnight or seeing it after it aired on DVR. I watch it on my home computer in full screen mode from my bed.

On the road – the road being the subway because I don’t drive – I don’t like to watch video… yet. That may change though as appealing (to me) interactive components lend themselves to mobile devices. I see people doing it all the time – on their ipods, PSPs, cellphones, etc. They are watching sports clips, The John Stewart Show, etc. I’m not feeling it.

Blankly staring at a screen for more than a few seconds is not fun for me at all when I am flying through tubes underground. I have tried it and feel like a robot, a drone, something inhuman. I don’t want to stare at a tiny screen in my hand. I’d rather look at shoes or cute purses on the people around me.

The photo in the upper right corner is of me playing with my DS in bed. I would never watch a DVD in bed, just like I would never watch one on a subway ride. I exclusively use my DS on the subway and in bed. That is it. I don’t know why exactly, but I suspect it has something to do with stimulation levels. The screen size is not an issue because I am interacting with it, tactilly. The length of the content is not an issue because I am measuring time by score, not by actual time. It’s a somewhat intimate activity in that I am not playing against anyone but myself, it’s has 100% of my focus and it is still portable.

I also only read on the subway and in bed, so this confirms my aforementioned preferences.