In a study released Wednesday, Nielsen found that traditional TV viewership, which remains the primary vehicle for video consumption across all demographics, rose an average of 22 minutes per month per person last year. The average American now spends nearly 159 hours watching traditional TV each month.
U.S. consumers also now spend an average of four hours and 20 minutes per month watching video on the web, a full hour and 10 minutes above what they spent in Q1 2010.
In addition, timeshifted TV (i.e. TV content that is recorded and watched later) also continued to grow, as did mobile video viewing, up 43% (20%) from the year previous.
Some Viewers Migrating From Traditional TV to Online Video
Dep arting from earlier studies that found that the heaviest media consumers consume content across all platforms, Nielsen’s latest survey shows that those who watch the least amount of traditional TV — particularly those in the 18 to 34 age demographic — are watching more online video.
This trend is still in its infancy, however, as more than one-third of video viewers do not watch any streaming Internet video, while less than 1% avoid traditional TV altogether.
Demographic Breakdown
Unsurprisingly, age is the biggest determining factor in video consumption habits. Adults ages 50 to 84 made up the largest chunk (25%) of traditional TV viewership, while adults ages 35 to 49 comprised the largest segment (27%) of the Internet video audience. Meanwhile, 25 to 34-year-olds accounted for the highest percentage (30%) of mobile video viewership.
Impressively, young American teens (ages 12 to 17) spend a full third o f their online time...
