NEW YORK: Americans are watching more video in more places and doing more stuff simultaneously, according to Nielsen’s latest Three Screen Report. The firm said that during the second quarter, the number of people watching mobile video increase 70 percent over the same period a year ago. Online viewing increased by 46 percent and average TV consumption remained at a seasonal high of 141 hours per month.
“Although we have seen the computer and mobile phone screens taking on a significant role, their emergence has not been at the cost of TV viewership,” said Jim O’Hara, President, Media Product Leadership, The Nielsen Company. “The entire media universe is expanding so consumers are choosing to add elements to their media experience, rather than to replace them.”
Nielsen developed a type of single-source electronic measurement of TV and Internet use within the same house. A sample of 1,000 homes with around 2,800 people aged two or more was used.
As of June 2009, the result indicated that 57 percent of consumers with home Internet access also watched TV simultaneously at least once a month. On average, they spent 2 hours and 39 minutes each month simultaneously surfing and watching TV.
As people watch more TV, there are also more TVs to watch. In 2009, the average U.S. home had only 2.5 people versus 2.86 television sets; 54 percent of Americans have three or more TV sets in the home.
Nielsen said online usage was relatively flat since last year, though more people watched video online than ever before. Short-form videos still comprised the biggest chunk of online viewing--83 percent in May of ’09.
TV network content comprised the majority of mobile video viewing. Mobile video viewing continues its upward trend, with more than 15 million Americans reporting watching mobile video in Q209, an increase of 70 percent versus last year--the largest annual growth to date.
More from TVB on three-screen viewing:
May 20, 2009: “TV Rules Among Three Screens”
Television remains the screen of choice among Americans, Nielsen said. During the first quarter, the 285 million Americans who watched TV did so for an average of 153 hours a month, up 1.2 percent from last year.
