The FINANCIAL — The Nielsen Company findings show that screen time of the average American continues to increase with TV users watching more TV than ever before (127 hrs, 15 min per month), while also spending 9% more time using the Internet (26 hrs, 26 min per month) from last year.
At the same time, a small but growing number of Internet and mobile phone users are watching video online (2 hrs, 19 min per month), as well as using their cell phones to watch video (3 hrs, 15 min per month).
The U.S. television landscape is growing increasingly more complex and digital. As of May 2008, more than 65% of U.S. homes receive digital cable and satellite combined. These digital TV homes receive nearly 160 channels. In addition, 25% and 35% of U.S. homes have DVR and Video on Demand respectively.
"Commercial television is alive and well – growing 1% year over year – despite the rapid adoption of other platforms," said John Burbank, chief marketing officer for The Nielsen Company. "Moreover, timeshifting represents less than 5% of total viewing."
Two hundred twenty million Americans have Internet access at home and/or work and 73%, or 162 million went online in May. Watching video on the Internet is no longer a novelty; 119 million unique viewers viewed 7.5 billion video streams in May 2008. In addition as of Q1 2008, 91 million Americans (36% of all mobile phone subscribers in the U.S.) owned a video-capable phone.
"Web video is changing the definition of the Internet for those under the age of 24. Those under 24 use the Internet less than older users but spend a greater percent of time viewing video. For instance, children 2-11 spend relatively little time on the Internet – just 4:58 vs 38:47 for adults 35-44. But much more of their time is likely spent watching video than checking email or traditional websites." Burbank concluded.
Discussion about this post