Video Keeps Web Surfers Hooked Longer

Written by Steve Donohue

Thursday, November 6. 2008 at 10:45 AM EST Post a comment

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ad:tech -- NEW YORK -- Adding more video to a site keeps Web surfers hooked longer, and encourages them to return to the site, media executives said Wednesday.

Perry Cooper, vice president of the National Hockey League's NHL Direct unit, said 80 percent of visitors to NHL.com that watch videos return the next day. And he said about 80 percent of users that start to watch a video watch the entire clip, most of which are about four or five minutes long.

"If you can get [Website visitors] to watch, and watch for a long time, you can bring them back again," Cooper told audience members at an ad:tech panel session about online sports programming.

Other panelists said they expect sports viewing to shift more in the future from TV to the Web, driven by more sports programming available online in addition to mobile content.

"TV dollars are moving into the digital space. Usage is going up, engagement is going up. Mobile will become an enormous frontier for the sports marketplace. Video will continue to be a vibrant area," said Hal Trencher, Yahoo vice president of national sales, sports, and music.

Trencher said sports advertising sales have taken a hit during the fourth quarter, with cuts in the automotive, financial, and retail sectors. He said he also expects those sectors to struggle for most of 2009.

Also Wednesday:

• Trencher said he expects to see more high school and college sports programming on the Web. "I do think there is an opportunity that is coming in the high school area," Trencher said.

• Panelists said advertisers can profit from user-generated content, especially when consumers create their own versions of popular commercials. "My ad production budget goes much further when a consumer takes something and begins to create content," said Nike advertising and digital manager Mel Clements.

• Sports programming will become more widely available on mobile phones, driven in part by the popularity of fantasy leagues, panelists said. "In the next two years mobile devices will grow threefold [compared] to laptops," Trencher said.