Traditional TV Still Preferred Viewing Platform
Despite advances in online and mobile video technology, the old-school television set is still the preferred method of watching programming, according to the results of a Nielsen’s Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement (A2/M2) initiative study released on Monday.
The study found that residents of the United States watch 35 hours of television each week during the fourth quarter of 2009.
In comparison, the typical American viewed just two hours of time-shifted TV (via DVR or other recording device), 22 minutes of online video, and four minutes of video on mobile phones.
Furthermore, the survey found that that the public spent an average of four hours each week surfing the World Wide Web, and 35-percent more time using the Internet and watching television concurrently than previously recorded.
"The initial fear was that Internet and mobile video and entertainment would slowly cannibalize traditional TV viewing," Nielsen Co media product leader Matt O’Grady told Reuters on Monday, "but the steady trend of increased TV viewership alongside expanded simultaneous usage argues something quite different."
The report also showed a 57-percent increase in mobile video users, attributed largely to the proliferation of the smartphone, and 35-percent of U.S. households owned a digital video recorder.
As O’Grady said, "We seem to have an almost insatiable appetite for media, with online and mobile programming only adding to it."
Headquartered in New York, the Nielsen Company is an advertising research firm that, according to their official website, "employs advanced data collection methodologies and measurement science to help businesses turn new and traditional sources of data into customer intelligence to better manage their brands, launch and grow product portfolios, optimize their media mix and establish meaningful customer relationships”¦ We’re passionate about measuring and analyzing how people interact with digital platforms, traditional media and in-store environments – locally as well as globally."
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