Interesting Stats Re Viral TableTennisDaily Videos

[Dan]

Hey guys,

So I have been stumbling around on youtube for a few hours and have been really impressed by the new analytics tool for youtube partners. You can look into so many statistics its pretty incredible. You can see % of country visits, cities and which websites displayed your videos with view count. I looked at the Top 10 videos by TableTennisDaily and noticed the top 2 videos are the TableTennisDaily 2011 and 2012 Best Table Tennis Shots of the year videos (Xmas Edition). If you look at the screen shot below the video in 2011 has 2.4 million views with a total watch time of 2.3 million minutes. Whereas the 2012 video has 1 million less views however has a total watch time of 2.8 million minutes which is more than 2011 which is surprising data!

I watched the two videos and noticed the first two points in the 2012 tribute are far more spectacular and the crowd erupt more than the 2011 video. In the 2012 video the first two points are played in a League Match Arena whereas the first two points played in the 2011 video are in a big tournament hall.

I have always felt rallies and table tennis that is played in a small 'league match' arena tend to be a lot more thrilling and entertaining to watch on TV whereas the rallies in the big courts are not as enjoyable to watch on TV as it's hard to see the crowd engagement and get a feel for the atmosphere. I think this attracted the general public to watch the video longer. What do you all think?

Just wondered what your thoughts are on this, thought I would share this with you

 

[vvk1]

Videos of "small league matches" tend to have far better camera angles too. And the camera is so much closer to the action. Just compare videos from ttlondon2012's channel vs videos from the ITTF protour video feed.

IMHO, that's also why people love various "training hall" videos, like the most popular video on (shameless plug) my channel:

 

[Pongfinity]

It's crazy how much information the Youtube Analytics gives. I've also tried to study it sometimes... just not completely sure what I eventually found out.

In this case it's indeed pretty amazing that the 2012 video can have more watched minutes than the 2011 video that has 1,2M more views.

I think the second clip in the 2012 video plays a significant role to why people watch the video longer. It's a really impressive topspin rally that I think catches "normal" people's attention.

But I think you might be right about the crowd and atmosphere too, they surely feels like more enjoyable to watch and the reaction from the crowd really brings something extra in those clips.

It's challenging but really interesting trying to understand the information from the Analytics!

 

[anchorschmidt]

I have a pretty simple explanation. It could be that YouTube started tracking minutes after the 2011 video was out and therefore not all minutes have been tracked.

 

[Dan]

Videos of "small league matches" tend to have far better camera angles too. And the camera is so much closer to the action. Just compare videos from ttlondon2012's channel vs videos from the ITTF protour video feed.

IMHO, that's also why people love various "training hall" videos, like the most popular video on (shameless plug) my channel:

Hey vvk1 yeah this is true, you are up more close and personal with the action almost like you are sitting in the stands watching

Wow! I don't think I have seen that video of yours before! Zhang Jike is working so hard, that exercise from Liu Guoliang is ruthless!

It's crazy how much information the Youtube Analytics gives. I've also tried to study it sometimes... just not completely sure what I eventually found out.

In this case it's indeed pretty amazing that the 2012 video can have more watched minutes than the 2011 video that has 1,2M more views.

I think the second clip in the 2012 video plays a significant role to why people watch the video longer. It's a really impressive topspin rally that I think catches "normal" people's attention.

But I think you might be right about the crowd and atmosphere too, they surely feels like more enjoyable to watch and the reaction from the crowd really brings something extra in those clips.

It's challenging but really interesting trying to understand the information from the Analytics!

Agreed with everything ES. Yeah for me the topspin rally by Kreanga is so good! The sound, video quality, atmosphere and shots makes this point very spectacular! The point itself I remember going viral on facebook.

I have a pretty simple explanation. It could be that YouTube started tracking minutes after the 2011 video was out and therefore not all minutes have been tracked.

This is a very good explanation however I just checked and the minutes have been calculated from 2011.

 

[anchorschmidt]

Hey vvk1 yeah this is true, you are up more close and personal with the action almost like you are sitting in the stands watching

Wow! I don't think I have seen that video of yours before! Zhang Jike is working so hard, that exercise from Liu Guoliang is ruthless!



Agreed with everything ES. Yeah for me the topspin rally by Kreanga is so good! The sound, video quality, atmosphere and shots makes this point very spectacular! The point itself I remember going viral on facebook.



This is a very good explanation however I just checked and the minutes have been calculated from 2011.

Hi Dan, I think that the flat line in the beginning indicates that the minutes were not being tracked from the beginning. If you see the chart for the views, it is clear that the the views have been tracked during the entire lifetime of the video but the same is probably not the case for the minutes. According to a few sources, this feature came in the fall of 2012.


I would recommend setting the timeline between December 2011 and March 2012 or so and checking if any minutes were tracked in this time.


Source http://www.klok.fi/blog/estimated-minutes-watched-on-youtube/

 

[Dan]

Hi Dan, I think that the flat line in the beginning indicates that the minutes were not being tracked from the beginning. If you see the chart for the views, it is clear that the the views have been tracked during the entire lifetime of the video but the same is probably not the case for the minutes. According to a few sources, this feature came in the fall of 2012.


I would recommend setting the timeline between December 2011 and March 2012 or so and checking if any minutes were tracked in this time.


Source http://www.klok.fi/blog/estimated-minutes-watched-on-youtube/

Hey Anchor,

Yes you are right I just read a message on youtube to saying. "Data for "Average percentage viewed", "Average view duration", and "Watch time (minutes)" is not available before September 1, 2012."

I thought this data was strange At least that is cleared up now haha!