Technology research and consulting firm Yankee Group today unveiled U.S. survey results that suggest that Internet video will be a standout in 2009, amidst other faltering media options. According to Yankee Group, consumers are spending 11 percent more time online than watching TV, and Internet video is emerging as “the key platform for the delivery of on-demand video services.”

The firm suggests that media companies focus on developing Internet content in the coming year, pointing to the rise of what they call the “Anywhere Consumer” (and the rest of us call “people” or “listeners” or “viewers”). That is, as people are increasingly able to connect to content, society and commerce at any time from anywhere, the way in which entertainment is delivered and monetized must adapt to those “anywhere” outlets.

Other findings from the recently published Yankee Group Anywhere Consumer: 2008 U.S. Entertainment Survey:

56 percent of television viewers are online while the tv is on, browsing the Web or sending e-mail;
82 percent of Internet video viewers watch TV shows online because they missed the episode on TV;
Digital video recorder (DVR) owners are more likely to watch content online than they are to record a program in advance;
25 percent of the Internet video audience watches online programming on-demand either once or several times per day.

This echoes what we’ve heard Tom Webster, from Edison Media Research, talk about for the past three years. Their most recent “Podcast Consumer Revealed” study reveals conducted with Arbitron, reveals that the audience for both audio and video podcasts has grown tremendously since 2007, and that those consumers are “extremely attractive” advertising targets.

image: Crocidillicus