TV viewing time continues to climb; viewers watching on more devices

New figures from The Nielsen Company have found that the total time the average American spends looking at a screen watching TV programs continues to increase, while the nature of the screens they watch is evolving.

The findings show that the average TV viewer is watching more television than ever before (127:15 per month), while also spending 9 percent more time using the Internet (26:26 per month) compared to last year.

At the same time, a small but growing number of Internet and mobile phone users are watching video online (2:19 per month) as well as using their cell phones to watch video (3:15 per month).

Nielsen's findings are as follows:

May 08May 07% Diff Watching TV in the home 127:15 121:48 4% Watching time-shifted TV 5:50 3:44 56% Using the Internet 26:26 24:16 9% Watching video on Internet
2:19
N/A
N/A Mobile video subscribers watching video on a mobile phone 3:15 N/A N/A

According to Nielsen, the U.S. TV landscape is growing increasingly complex and digital. As of May, more than 65 percent of U.S. homes received digital cable and satellite combined. These digital TV homes receive nearly 160 channels. In addition, 25 percent and 35 percent of U.S. homes have DVR and video on demand, respectively.

Two hundred and twenty million Americans have Internet access at home and/or work and 73 percent, or 162 million, went online in May, Nielsen found.

For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.