A research brief from the Center for Media Research, Five Additional Ways to Watch TV, outlines some interesting findings from E-Poll.

The research suggests that 26% of males between 13 and 34 watch video on devices other than the television.

No clue if this includes YouTube - I’m assuming it does - which in my opinion would skew the results significantly.

The study found that those that do watch video away from the television:

The percentages aren’t that startling, but I’d say that the last three are a large increase from previous years. Not that we have stats to back that up.

The most interesting statistic I found was that 13% currently transfer video content from their computer to their TV, and that 55% of those that watch video online would like to transfer content to their television sets.

Big news for the makers of the right type of set top box, like the Apple TV.

As I’ve mentioned, Scouta’s main goal is to provide you with great recommendations that match your taste and interests. But, with an aim of making Scouta simple to use, we hid the workings under the hood.

So, I thought I’d put together a simple description of how you can improve the recommendations Scouta provides you.

Add Favorites

The best way to improve the recommendations is to add Favorites from the Internet. Be really specific and link directly to the actual media file: like a .mp3, .mov, .avi, YouTube pages, Google Video page, MySpace Video pages, etc. That way the results are really refined.

Rate

A quick way to improve you ratings, but is a little less specific to you, is to rate items that already exist in Scouta, including those in your Recommendations list. This gives Scouta an insight into what you like and don’t like.

Join or Create Groups

If you’ve joined or created a group, then not only will you find some great Favorites, but Scouta will also be able to take these into consideration.

Add Title, Description, and Tags

Over time Scouta builds up an understanding of your tastes and interests based on keywords that are included in all the details associated with a Favorite. So it’s important to add as much detail to anything you add or rate.

That’s it. Simple isn’t it.

We also aim to make it even simpler, and soon will release the Mac version of our iTunes agent. That way you’ll only need to listen to or watch media in iTunes, on your iPod, or with an Apple TV.

A new study of 2500 european broadband users has found that approximately half of them say they watch television online. Which is an amazing statistic.

However, please note that this is broadband users, which is apparently about 30% (see this news report). So, although some sites are claiming about half of Europe, it’s actually only about 15% of the population say they watch TV online. Still an amazing number.

The study* of 2500 broadband users in UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, pinpoints that 45 per cent of European viewers are already watching TV online. French telly addicts are the most demanding, with 59 per cent choosing to watch their favourite shows via the web. Italians and Brits come in second and third respectively, whilst German viewers remain most bound to schedules set by TV broadcasters with only 33 per cent catching shows online.
* Research conducted independently by StrategyOne

Duncan at TechCrunch has a story about the news, and a good conversation underway, and Techmeme has a list of blogs taking up the news.

Lets see if the tabloid titles continue.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Scouta had been profiled in Australian Anthill, and suggested that anyone interested in Australian entrepreneurship, especially in the technology industry, should subscribe.

Well, I received a tip that you can buy a year’s subscription for a bargain price at the moment if you visit a special hidden url: www.australiananthill.com/unlock.

Signup using the online form you find and it’ll only cost you $29.95 for the year (6 issues). It’s worth close to $50, so you’ll get a 38% discount. To be honest, I’m not sure how they can provide it for that price, so it’s worth jumping in quick.

Wired ran a section the other month in its hard-copy magazine called “Snack Attack!” - available online here. Essentially it said we’re consuming bit-sized media like we consume snack food.

The New York Times reports today that Sony Corporation have decided to produce minisodes starting in June: Coming Online Soon: The Five-Minute ‘Charlie’s Angels’.

It makes complete sense to me. I’m hyperdistractable, an affliction for many of us who are extremely wired. So if you can’t grab my attention quickly I’m off surfing the next shiny object I see in my peripheral vision.

Scott Karp points out that there “will be even MORE content competing for scarce attention, making everybody’s slice of the pie that much smaller.”

Scouta has got that covered . Recommendations, not search.

For more on the Sony minisode news, check out Techmeme.