• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, November 16, 2012

When watching longer digital videos, viewers often reach for a tablet first.

Consumers who stream TV shows, movies and sporting events are increasingly tapping their tablets when they tune in, with tablet video viewers watching 54% more long-form videos than they did at the start of the year, Ooyala said in a just-released report analyzing video habits of nearly 200 million unique viewers across devices for the third quarter.

In fact, long-form programming comprised 71% of the time spent watching videos on tablets in the third quarter, an increase from 46% in the first quarter. That’s a significant rise in a short period of time, and suggests that tablets are becoming akin to second TVs for many of the consumers who have them. More evidence of the role that tablets are playing comes from this finding — about 30% of total tablet viewing time was with content longer than one hour.

Gaming consoles and connected TVs also draw viewers who watch longer videos. Ooyala said 42% of the total time spent watching video on those devices was with programming between 30 and 60 minutes. About 41% of viewing time was with videos longer than an hour.

Live streaming is also rising, thanks in part to the Olympics. Gaming consoles and over-the-top devices are claiming a good share of that. The time spent watching live video on game consoles and connected TVs more than doubled in the third quarter.