Consumers devote 3.5 hours a month to using TV and the Internet simultaneously

We are seeing more and more evidence that video advertising needs to be a three screen strategy - television, web, mobile.  According to The Nielsen Company and
their Three Screen Report for the 4th quarter of 2009, the typical American continues to increase his/her media time, watching each week almost 35 hrs of TV, 2 hrs of timeshifted TV, 22 minutes of online video and 4 minutes of mobile video, while also spending 4 hours on the Internet.  In addition, Americans now spend 35% more time using the Internet and TV simultaneously than they were a year ago – now spending up to 3.5 hours each month surfing the Internet and watching TV at the same time.

The report reveals that Americans continue to view video at a record pace. In 4Q09, traditional television use per month is up 1%, timeshifted TV is up 25%, online video usage is up 16%, and mobile video users grew 57% from Q408 to Q409.

Key conclusions from the report are:

• TV viewing keeps increasing, partly because of a better viewing environment that includes more convenience (DVR), a higher-quality experience (High Definition programming and flat screen TVs) and the ubiquity of digital delivery, which delivers more TV channels to the home.

• DVRs are now in 35% of American homes, with usage up 25% from a year ago.

• The heaviest timeshifters are A25-34 (2hrs:58min per week) and the lightest are A65+ (1hr:10min per week).

• Online video consumption is up 16% from last year – with approximately 44% of online video consumed at the workplace.

• The number of active mobile video users grew 57% from Q408 to Q409, from 11.2 million to 17.6 million users.

Important trends to watch are:

• Most traditional TV viewing continues to happen in the evening hours (M-Sun 8-11 pm), while “primetime” for online video viewing lasts from noon to 6:00 pm, peaking at 4:00 pm.

• DVR users watch about 47% of primetime commercials in programs played back after 3 days.

• According to a recent study conducted by Nielsen, Americans watch network TV programs online to catch up with programming or if the TV itself is unavailable. It is not typically as a replacement for TV viewing.

• Streaming via the mobile internet is the most prevalent way that Americans watch mobile video. 67% of mobile video viewers access mobile video in this way.

• Smartphone users make up 59% of mobile video users in Q409, this is up from 47% in Q408. The growth of smartphones in the marketplace accounts for the large
base line growth in mobile video users.

The complete report can be downloaded at http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/nielsen_a2m2_three