Americans Can’t Get Enough Of Their Screen Time

Nielsen Reports that Internet and Mobile Usage Continues to Increase, As TV Usage Rises to an All-Time High

Contacts

New York, NY, November 24, 2008 —The Nielsen Company announced today in its second “A2/M2 Three Screen Report” that U.S. usage of TV, Internet and Mobile – the Three Screens – continues to increase.  As of third quarter 2008, the average person in the U.S. watched approximately 142 hours of TV in one month.  In addition, people who used the Internet were online 27 hours a month, and people who used a mobile phone spent 3 hours a month watching mobile video (See Tables 1 and 2 below).

Furthermore, the average time a U.S. home used a TV set during the 2007-08 television season was up to 8 hours and 18 minutes per day, a record high since Nielsen started measuring television in the 1950’s (See Table 3 below).

The full “A2/M2 Three Screen Report” is available at http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire.

“Americans keep finding more time to spend with the three screens,” said Susan Whiting, vice chairperson for The Nielsen Company.  “TV use is at an all-time high, yet people are also using the Internet more often – 31% of which is happening simultaneously.” 

Key facts from the report include:

·         Americans are spending more time than ever with their televisions, computers and mobile phones, with television remaining the dominant screen, watched more than 142 hrs a month – 5 hours more than last year. 

·         Americans spend more than 6 hours per month watching timeshifted TV, which is more than double the amount of time they watch video online. 

·         Men are more likely than women to watch video on mobile phones, while women are more likely then men to watch video on the Internet.

·         During the third quarter, there was no shortage of online video content with events including the Olympics, Major League baseball games, the political conventions and debates, and the financial crisis. Online video use grew steadily through the quarter. 

Whiting continued, “Our numbers show that TV remains the dominant choice for most Americans, yet timeshifting as well as videos on the Internet and on mobile phones, continue to be the trends to watch.”

The TV and Internet figures are calculated using Nielsen’s National TV and Internet panels which are measured electronically and reported on a regular basis. The Mobile phone figures are collected by Nielsen via a quarterly survey, and give a firsthand look at how early adopters report their usage of mobile video.

Source: The Nielsen Company

Source: The Nielsen Company

Source: The Nielsen Company

FOOTNOTES FOR CHARTS ABOVE:

* TV in the Home includes Live viewing plus any playback viewing within 7 days. Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but including playback services like Start Over as well as playback from a DVD recorder.
**Internet figures are from home and work.  Hours:minutes for Internet and video use are based on the universe of persons who used the Internet/watched online video. All Internet figures are monthly averages over the course of the quarter. Online Video duration metrics are not comparable to previous measurement periods as a result of methodology change
 ^ The average monthly unique users of mobile phones and mobile video in 3Q 2008 and 2Q 2008, based on Nielsen Mobile surveys and CTIA projection of U.S. wireless subscriptions.  Video user projection, time spent and composition data based on survey analysis of past 30 day use during the period.  The mobile video audience figures in this report for 3Q 2008 and 2Q 2008 now include mobile phone users who access mobile video through any means (including mobile Web), and are no longer limited to subscription-based mobile video.  Projection of all subscribers is based on persons 2+.  Projection of mobile video viewers, and all other mobile video estimates, based on subscribers 13+.
^^^ Nielsen Mobile’s survey reports mobile video usage for those users 13 and older.  Thus, 12-17 is T13-17 for all mobile data.
°°A65+ base size too small to report mobile video hours:minutes

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.