Facebook Watch is gaining traction among American users, according to a survey by Morgan Stanley.
As reported by Variety, 40 percent of US Facebook users tune into Watch every week, according to Morgan Stanley. Nearly a quarter—24 percent—use Watch daily. Viewers skew young, the analyst found. Forty percent of people using Watch on a daily basis are between the ages of 16-34.
Unsurprisingly, those who spend more time on Facebook check out the Watch tab more frequently as well. Sixty percent of respondents who spend at least three hours a day on Facebook’s platform use Watch on a weekly basis, the report said.
Short-form videos under 20 minutes are the most popular with Watch users, with roughly 75 percent viewing them weekly. That doesn’t mean shorter is the only way to go—the study found nearly half of the respondents view long-form content, noting a similar breakdown to viewing behavior on YouTube.
Morgan Stanley AlphaWise conducted the online survey of 1,400 U.S. consumers aged 16 and older in December.
Launched in August, Watch is Facebook’s answer to YouTube and Twitch, combining video with social interaction. Unlike its competitors, Facebook Watch focuses entirely on live or pre-recorded shows as opposed to vlogs. Facebook invested $200 million in hundreds of shows for its new video platform, which can be accessed through a separate tab from the News Feed.
That investment appears to be paying off. Facebook monetizes the videos through mid-roll ads, taking a 45 percent cut of revenue. In December, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak estimated that Facebook would make $565 million in revenue from its Watch video platform in 2018.
“We are encouraged (and admittedly surprised) by this early Watch traction as it speaks to [Facebook’s] ability to drive adoption of new products,” Morgan Stanley wrote. The analyst firm predicts that Watch (and video) will be “the next key long-term driver of [Facebook] engagement and monetization.”
