The average American watches more than 151 hours of TV per month, while those who watch video on the internet consume three hours online, according to data from The Nielsen Company.
The Nielsen Q4
A2/M2 Three Screen Report also reveals that those who watch video on their mobile phone or other device do so nearly four hours per month.
A report from Leichtman Research Group published earlier this month revealed that 34% of US adults online at home report that they view some type of video online at least weekly, including 11% who view video online daily (see US online video viewing increases).
Nielsen found that the average viewing of video on TV, internet and mobile devices continues to increase for all media and time-shifting is one of the most popular ways to watch TV.
Digital video recorded (DVR) and other time-shifted TV is watched at double the pace as video online – at 7 hours, 11 minutes per month, Nielsen said. However, young adults (age 18-24) watch video on the internet and on a DVR at the same rate – about 5 hours per month.
The work day continues to be the prime time for internet video. Weekdays outpace weekends for online video viewing with 65% of online video viewers streaming content between 9am – 5pm Monday through Friday, vs. 51% of online video viewers logging on between 6am – 8pm on weekends.
Nielsen Q408 data shows that 11 million Americans now watch video on a mobile phone, an increase of 9% vs. the previous quarter. Much of this growth is from increased mobile content and the rise of the mobile web as a viewing option. In addition, the average monthly time spent viewing mobile video among mobile video users increased 2%, from 3:37 to 3:42 between Q308 and Q408.
Susan Whiting, vice chair of The Nielsen Company, said: The American fascination with television and other video content is not easing up, as consumers keep turning to TV, Internet and Mobile at record levels.
“Viewers appear to be choosing the best screen available for their video consumption, weighing a variety of factors, including convenience, quality and access. It is clear that TV remains the main vehicle for viewing video, although online and mobile platforms are an increasingly important complement to live home-based television.”
The TV and internet figures are calculated using Nielsen’s US 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.
At the end of last year, data from Knowledge Networks revealed that more than one in 10 (11%) young adults age 18-34 in the US now watches TV online at least once a week, and these internet-TV watchers also spend an extra hour each day with media compared with their same-age counterparts (see Watching online TV growing in popularity in US).
