Online TV Network consumption appears to be an activity set aside in specific sessions from most other online activities, says the report. For those who go online to watch TV shows, that activity dominates that particular online session, with women and the 18-34 group spending the biggest parts of their sessions on network viewing:.

While many of us may watch TV with friends or family members, the viewing of TV shows online proves to be a rather solitary activity. This may change as internet connectivity to our main TV screens becomes more ubiquitous, but right now, the majority of online viewers prefer to be alone.

TV commercial spots reused online appear to have more impact on recall and likeability than creative just designed for online, as noted in a case study with food and beverage ads.

The writer concludes that “This look into the similarities and differences of TV viewing on the web should be a reminder to brand managers that ‘context’ is just as much king these days as content.”

And, to put Online viewing in perspective, another recent Nielsen report finds that the number of unique viewers of online video increased 5.2% year-over-year from 137.4 million unique viewers in January 2009 to 142.7 million in January 2010.

Among the top Web brands ranked by unique viewers in January, Disney Online was the fastest growing month-over-month, increasing 23.3%. Facebook and MSN/WindowsLive/Bing were the second and third fastest growing, increasing 18.6% and 15.6% month-over-month, respectively.

For additional information from Nielsen and this study, please visit here.

Source: MediaPost Research Brief – Online TV Viewing For Catch-Up