LONDON — Online television, film and video revenue from legitimate portals is set to increase almost tenfold to $6.3 billion by 2012, according to research published Monday.
The popularity of such sites as YouTube, MySpace, GoogleVideo and Apple’s iTunes Video is set to see spending grow as viewers ditch linear television in favor of interactive entertainment, according to a report from business information group Informa Telecoms and Media.
North America is likely to be the biggest global market for online revenues, accounting for 65% of the total by 2012.
The U.K., with revenues of $708 million by 2012, is second, followed by Japan ($510 million), Germany ($254 million) and France ($238 million).
The report predicts that the majority of services will be advertising-funded rather than a la carte or subscription models, and says that media companies prepared to cooperate with the new online aggregators are poised to benefit from the Internet revolution.
“These trends are now so pronounced that the term ‘social revolution’ no longer seems too much of an exaggeration,” Informa researcher Adam Thomas said. “With social change occurring on such a scale, traditional media companies are being forced to change their behavior and business models to adapt their offering to consumer demand.”
