Rising YouTube popularity = video production opportunities

YouTube's rising popularity in provinces of Thailand means opportunities for independent video production.

TECHNOLOGY

YouTube more popular in provinces than Bangkok

12/10/2016
Komsan Tortermvasana

Thai internet users in rural areas have pushed ahead of their city cousins in YouTube viewership.

Before the introduction of 3G in provincial Thailand a few years ago, internet usage was a lot lower in rural areas.

With this new provincial audience comes new opportunities for independent video producers.

INTERNET TIME GREATER IN PROVINCES

Internet users in provincial areas spent 2.1 hours daily on YouTube, with an average of 39 minutes watched per visit.

Urban users spent less time on YouTube with 1.8 hours a day and 33 minutes per visit.

The number of YouTube visits per day for Thai internet users has increased continuously from three visits per day in 2014 to 3.3 visits this year.

These findings are from the latest market research from TNS.

The TNS survey was conducted for Google Thailand in May this year with more than 1,000 respondents nationwide.

TNS is a global market research and business consulting firm (see here).

GREATER CONTENT VARIETY, MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS

With more people all over Thailand watching more YouTube, opportunities to create videos and distribute them via YouTube are also increasing.

This can be done with a simple mobile phone as veteran journalists show in the videos above and below.

The research also shows that there is a greater variety of content on YouTube being watched in the provinces.

"Since viewership has been increasing rapidly, and attracting independent video creators to further upload their content onto YouTube, advertising revenue will also increase in turn," said Michael Jittivanich, head of marketing at Google Thailand.

There are as many as 25 independent creators in Thailand who have over 1 million subscribers on their channel, eight of whom reached 1 million subscribers within a year of their first video upload.

Mr Michael said the company found YouTube's ecosystem has accelerated in the past two years, seeing 75% growth in content uploaded since 2014 on YouTube Thailand.

HALF OF TIME SPENT ONLINE BY THAIS ON YOUTUBE

Today, 62% of Thais are online, with half of their time online being spent on YouTube.

Up to 65% of YouTube watch time in Thailand is done through mobile devices, up from 52% last year, he said.

Of the respondents, 81% said YouTube is the first place they go for videos, 61% prefer YouTube over TV, while only 11% prefer TV over YouTube.

Mr Michael said 59% of YouTube viewers in Thailand said they specifically go to YouTube in order to watch videos, while the remaining 41% said they click on links from other sites that take them to YouTube.

BRIGHT PROSPECTS FOR YOUTUBE IN THAILAND

The findings ensure bright prospects for YouTube in Thailand, thanks to cheaper smartphones and burgeoning nationwide high-speed wireless networks, as well as low-cost mobile data plans for consumers.

Connecting to the internet once required an expensive old style phone line (land line) that was often not even possible to get in the provinces because the phone lines in a neighbourhood were full to capacity.

With 3G cheap and available everywhere, phones and tablets have often replaced computers,  televisions or community radio as an entertainment and media platform.

"Currently, people can stay connected everywhere and YouTube can be a source of information and entertainment," said  Mr. Michael.

"People in the countryside are obviously living less hectic lives, so they have more time to watch videos," said Mr Michael.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1108225/youtube-provincially-popular

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