1.5 Billion People Will Watch Video Online by 2016

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Roughly 1.5 billion people will watch at least one online video by 2016, according to a recently released study by online video technology provider Ooyala.

Ooyala says that viewership of branded videos grew 91 percent over the course of Q4 2012. According to the study, streaming video on smartphones and tablets grew exponentially in 2012.

While watching live video on the desktop has surpassed video-on-demand viewership, Ooyala believes the study illustrates the importance of streaming video for marketers.

"Streaming video has crossed an inflection point and it's now a necessary channel for both consumers, as well as broadcasters, brands and media companies around the world," said Jay Fulcher, CEO of Ooyala.

"The data we provide in this report, and direct to our customers, is critical to understanding how consumers are engaging with video online. These insights help our customers deliver more engaging, personalized video experiences, and as a result, make more money from online video."

The study found that branded video viewership surged during last year's holiday season. It was discovered that streaming video on tablets also peaked during the holiday season. Tablet video viewership grew 73 percent on Christmas Day specifically, according to the study.

Overall, live video views grew on streaming devices over the course of 2012. Users were reported to watch live video 18 times longer on a desktop than video-on-demand. For tablets, the number was five times longer when comparing live video streaming to video-on-demand.

Ooyala projects that video viewing on smartphones will grow 10 times over within the next five years. Last year alone mobile saw its share of online video views jump 87 percent.

The study also found that iPhone users watched over twice as much video on their phone as Android users. Last year, iOS users grabbed 67 percent of the mobile video view market.

Video image on home page via Shutterstock.