Using the internet as a source of entertainment has overtaken business and investment as the second largest paid content category on the web during the first half of 2004, according to the US Online Publishers Association (OPA).
The entertainment category, which was fueled primarily by growth in the music sector, grew by 78.3% to £182.8 million during the first six months of this year, spurring the overall online content market in the US to $853 million, citing a 14% year-on-year increase.
President of the OPA, Michael Zimbalist said: “For the first time ever, growth in paid content spending was fueled primarily by consumers using the internet for entertainment and for fun. This supports a growing body of evidence that consumers’ use of the internet is evolving far beyond functional activities. We believe that online entertainment will continue to grow as broadband proliferates.”
Sports and games also experienced signicant growth over the period, up 68.7% and 27.4% respecitvely, however personals/dating held its position as the leading paid content category, with US consumers spending $227.9 million in the first half of 2004, despite seeing a slight decline in the last three quarters since peaking in quarter three 2003.
The share of online consumers in the US who paid for web content during quarter one of this year also grew, up to 11.2% before falling slightly to 11% in quarter two.
According to the OPA, 90% of paid content revenue came through subscription sales – the highest percentage yet recorded – driven by a significant shift from single purchases to subscription in the games, news and research categories. While a significant portion of spending in the games category still comes through single purchases, the portion of category sales attributable to subscriptions has grown dramatically, up from 48.4% in 2002 to 65.3% in the first half of 2004.
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