Americans Spending More Time Online
7.5 billion videos viewed
Nielsen has released its first comparable U.S. figures showing video and TV usage on all three screens (Television, Internet, Mobile).
In May the average American watched 127 hours of TV and went online for 26 hours, up 9 percent over 2007. Internet and mobile phone users viewed an average of 2 hours of online video during the month.
Two hundred and twenty million Americans have Internet access either at home or work and 73 percent (162 million) went online in May. Watching online video has become a standard activity with 119 million unique viewers watching 7.5 billion videos in May. In the first quarter of 2008, 91 million Americans (36% of all mobile phone subscribers in the U.S.) owned a video-capable phone.
"Web video is changing the definition of the Internet for those under the age of 24. Those under 24 use the Internet less than older users but spend a greater percent of time viewing video," said John Burbank, chief marketing officer for The Nielsen Company.
"For instance, children 2-11 spend relatively little time on the Internet - just 4:58 vs 38:47 for adults 35-44. But much more of their time is likely spent watching video than checking email or traditional websites."