Far from cannibalizing American consumers’ television viewing, the increasing array of options for watching TV and video appears to be adding to their total viewing time — enabling people to access entertainment whenever and wherever it suits them. How, where, and when consumers watch is split along demographic lines — and is continually shifting.
Timeshifted TV Viewing
More than a third of U.S. consumers age 12 and older (36%) own or use DVRs, and 35% watch Video-On-Demand (VOD), according to Edison Research and Arbitron.
In 4th quarter 2010, the average American watched two hours and 21 minutes of timeshifted TV per week (including households with and without DVRs). Nearly four in 10 households (38%) that have televisions also have DVRs as of February 2011, according to Nielsen.
DVR usage is highest among adults ages 25-64, who watched more than 30 hours per month of TV recorded on DVR in 4th quarter 2010. Teens and adults ages 18-24 are least likely to watch programs recorded on DVRs, and most likely to watch videos on their mobile phones.
Non-Hispanic Whites are the heaviest users of DVRs, while African Americans watch the most live TV and DVD video. Hispanic households are least likely to own DVRs — only 29% have them, compared to 38% of overall U.S. households with TVs.
Online Video
More than half of Americans age 12 and older (54%) watch online video, according to Edison and Arbitron. Nearly half (49%) watch videos on YouTube. Three in 10 (31%) have watched videos on YouTube in the past week, and 41% have watched in the past month. The audience for online video has tripled in the past five years — 38% watch in a typical week in 2011, up from 12% in 2006. Online video viewers spend an average of three hours, 26 minutes per week watching in this format, up from two hours, 20 minutes in 2008.
Nearly 144 million Americans watched videos online via computers in January 2011; women (54%) are more likely than men (46%) to watch online video, according to Nielsen.
More than 172 million U.S. Internet users watched online videos in April 2011, spending an average of almost 15 hours watching that month, according to comScore. Google was the top source for video — primarily due to Google-owned YouTube.
Users of social networking sites are more likely than online adults overall to visit network TV and other broadcast media websites — 49% of social network users and blog readers visited TV network sites in January 2011, compared to 40% of all online Americans, according to Nielsen. Half of Facebook users and 76% of Twitter users visited TV network and broadcast media during that time.
Connected TVs
Three in 10 U.S. households have at least one TV set that’s connected to the Internet —whether directly, through videogame systems, or via Blu-Ray players — up from 24% in 2010, according to Leichtman Research Group. One in 10 U.S. adults (10%) watch online video using these devices at least once a week, up from 5% in 2010. Much of the increase is due to Netflix usage; 30% of Netflix subscribers watch videos from the Internet weekly, compared to 3% among non-subscribers.
Nearly a quarter of U.S. households (23%) have Internet-connected videogame systems, 10% have Internet-connected TVs, and 7% have Internet-connected Blu-Ray players (some households have more than one connected device).
Mobile Video
Nearly 25 million mobile subscribers (8%) watched videos on their mobile phones in 4th quarter 2010 — a 41% increase from 2009. Teens ages 12-17 watched an average of seven hours and 13 minutes of video per month on mobile phones in 4th quarter 2010, compared to an average of four hours and 20 minutes for all mobile subscribers, according to Nielsen.
Nearly half of all smartphone owners (48%) watch videos on their phones in a typical week, according to Google/Ipsos OTX Media CT. More than four in 10 (43%) visit video sharing websites on their smartphones, while 17% visit full-length TV programming websites.
Cable and Satellite Still Strong
Nearly nine in 10 U.S. households (88%) subscribe to a pay television service — 53% to cable, 32% to satellite, and 10% to fiber optic (some subscribe to more than one), according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Fewer than one in 10 (8%) get their TV service exclusively through antenna reception. More than three quarters (76%) say they’re unlikely or very unlikely to cancel their pay TV service, and only 10% say they’re likely or very likely to do so.
Despite the growing popularity of alternate screens, cable TV and satellite subscriptions have remained steady for the past five years, at about 90% of U.S. households, according to Edison and Arbitron. Even among monthly viewers of online streaming TV content, traditional television accounts for more than three hours of viewing per day — three hours, 11 minutes, compared to three hours, 43 minutes among the overall population. [See also related story on page 12] [Television, Entertainment, Online, Mobile]
Sources: “The Infinite Dial 2011: Navigating Digital Platforms,” and “Television Ownership on the Decline: Are Americans ‘Cutting the Cord?’” Edison Research and Arbitron. Edison Research, Steve Lemma, Research Coordinator, 6 W. Cliff St., Somerville, NJ 08876; www.edisonresearch.com. Price: Available online at no charge.
“State of the Media, TV Usage Trends: Q3 and Q4 2010,” and “State of the Media, Trends in TV Viewing: 2011 TV Upfronts,” Nielsen, Kathleen Mathus, Communications Analyst, Television, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003; 646-654-5000; kathleen.mathus@nielsen.com; www.nielsen.com. Price: Available online at no charge.
“comScore Video Metrix, April 2011,” comScore, Stephanie Lyn Flosi, Sernior Marketing Communications Analyst, 233 S. Wacker Dr., #3400, Chicago, IL 60606; 312-777-8801; press@comscore.com; www.comscore.com. Price: Contact for information.
“Emerging Video Services V,” Leichtman Research Group, Bruce Leichtman, President/Principal Analyst, 3 Ellison Ln., Durham, NC 03824; 603-397-5400; info@leichtmanresearch.com; www.leichtmanresearch.com. Price: Contact for information.
“The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users, April 2011,” Google/Ipsos OTX MediaCT. Ipsos OTX MediaCT, Tom Harbeck, SVP Strategy & Marketing, 275 Seventh Ave., #2001, New York, NY 10001; 212-524-8231; tharbeck@otxresearch.com; www.ipsos-na.com. Price: Available online at no charge: http://www.google.com/think/insights
“Cord Cutting and TV Service: What’s Really Going On? May 2011,” Consumer Electronics Association, Brian Markwalter, SVP of Research and Standards, 1919 S. Eads St., Arlington, VA 22202; 703-907-7600; info@CE.org; www.CE.org. Price: Available online at no charge.
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