A2/m2 Three Screen Report
Television,
Internet and
Mobile Usage
in the U.S.
A2/M2 Three Screen Report
VOLUME 5 • 2nd Quarter 2009
A2/M2 Three Screen Report • VOLUME 5 • 2nd Quarter 2009
Viewership on the Rise as More Video
Content Spans All Three Screens
57% of Internet Consumers Use TV and Internet Simultaneously at Home
Nielsen reports in this issue of the A2/M2 Three Screen Report – a regular analysis from Nielsen’s Anywhere Anytime Media
Measurement initiative (A2/M2) – that American video consumption across the three screens of television, Internet and mobile
continues to rise. During 2nd Quarter 2009, online and mobile video consumption were up considerably, year over year, in terms
of time spent and size of audience. The mobile video audience increased 70% from a year prior and time spent watching online
video increased 46% in the same period (see Tables 1 and 2). While online and mobile are taking on an increasing role in the
American media experience, traditional TV consumption continues to grow and remains at a seasonal all-time high (141 hours a
month in the second quarter).
American consumers appear to be adding
video consumption platforms, not replacing Table 1
them, and media multi-tasking is part of
Overall Usage Number of Users 2+ (in 000’s) – Monthly Reach
the equation. Today, more than half of
Americans (57%) who have Internet access
2Q09
1Q09
2Q08
% Diff
Yr to Yr
at home use television and the Internet
Watching TV in the home°
284,396
284,574
281,746
0.9%
simultaneously at least once a month.
Watching Timeshifted TV°
82,297
79,533
62,240
32.2%
Though this two-screen, simultaneous
Using the Internet**
191,035
163,110
159,986
19.4%
usage amounts to just 3% of their TV
Watching Video on Internet**
133,962
131,102
119,164
12.4%
viewing, it already represents more than
Using a Mobile Phone^
233,722
230,436
221,651
0.5%
a quarter of their at-home internet usage
Mobile Subscribers Watching
(28%). This simultaneous activity is one
Video on a Mobile Phone^
15,267
13,419
9,004
70.0%
reason we see continued growth of both
Source: The Nielsen Company
Internet and TV consumption.
Table 2
How to Read Table 2:
Monthly Time Spent in Hours:Minutes Per User 2+
As of 2Q09 the 290 million
people in the U.S. with TVs
2Q09
1Q09
2Q08
% Diff Yr to Yr
Absolute Diff Yr to Yr
spend on average 141 hours:
(2Q09 to 2Q08)
(2Q09 to 2Q08)
3 minutes each month tuning
into television. June 2009
Watching TV in the home*
141:03
153:27
139:00
1.5%
2:02
data (used in this report in
Watching Timeshifted TV*
7:16
8:13
6:05
19.5%
1:11
place of 2Q09) shows that
134 million people watching
Using the Internet**
26:15
29:15
26:29
-0.9%
0:14
video on the Internet spent
on average 3 hours:11
Watching Video on Internet**
3:11
3:00
2:12
45.5%
0:59
minutes during the month
Mobile Subscribers Watching
doing so. As of 2Q09 the 15
Video on a Mobile Phone^
3:15
3:37
3:37
-10.0%
0:22
million people subscribing to
mobile video in the U.S. spend
Source: The Nielsen Company
on average 3 hrs:15 minutes
Editor’s Note: TV viewing patterns in the U.S. tend to be seasonal, with TV usage higher in the winter months and lower in the summer months
each month watching video
leading to a decline in quarter to quarter usage, yet increasing from 2Q08 to 2Q09.
on a mobile phone.
Copyright © 2009 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Produced in the U.S.A.
Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C.
A2/M2 Three Screen Report • VOLUME 5 • 2nd Quarter 2009
Table 3
Monthly Time Spent in Hours:Minutes 2Q 2009
K2-11
T12-17
A18-24
A25-34
A35-44
A45-54
A55-64
A65+
On Traditional TV*
101:51
101:09
108:49
131:11
136:38
156:59
178:34
197:44
Watching Timeshifted TV*
5:26
4:54
5:33
10:22
9:59
8:19
8:05
3:56
Using the Internet**
4:44
10:22
26:09
34:00
33:05
30:35
26:55
21:57
Watching Video on Internet**
1:48
2:41
5:11
4:42
3:27
3:00
1:56
1:13
Mobile Subscribers Watching
Video on a Mobile Phone^
n/a^^
6:30^^
3:15
2:10
2:53
2:10
2:10
n/a°°
Source: The Nielsen Company
Table 4
Video Audience Composition – Age 2Q 2009
K2-11
T12-17
A18-24
A25-34
A35-44
A45-54
A55-64
A65+
On TV*
10%
6%
8%
12%
14%
17%
15%
18%
On the Internet**
6%
8%
9%
15%
19%
21%
13%
9%
On Mobile Phones^
n/a^^
19%^^
12%
32%
20%
11%
5%
1%
Source: The Nielsen Company
Table 5
Video Audience Composition – Gender 1Q 2009
F2+
M2+
On TV*
54%
46%
On the Internet**
54%
46%
On Mobile Phones^^
41%
59%
Source: The Nielsen Company
Copyright © 2009 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Produced in the U.S.A.
Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C.
A2/M2 Three Screen Report • VOLUME 5 • 2nd Quarter 2009
The Simultaneous TV and Internet Experience
spend 2 hours, 39 minutes each month simultaneously using the
Internet while also watching TV. The average consumer’s online
Nielsen’s Convergence Research Panel, launched in 2008, is
experience at home is in front of the television almost a third of
the industry’s first ever, ongoing, single source electronic
the time — 28% of consumer’s time using the Internet is also
measurement of TV and Internet usage in the same homes. As
spent simultaneously watching TV, while only 3% of consumer’s
of June 2009, this panel°°° shows that 57% of consumers with
time watching TV is spent simultaneously using the Internet.
Internet access at home watch TV and go online simultaneously
(see Table 6).
at least one time each month. On average these consumers
Table 6
Persons 2+ Watching TV and Using the Internet
Simultaneously At Least Once Per Month — June 2009 °°°
P2+
% of Persons Using TV/Internet Simultaneously
56.9%
Estimated Number of Persons Using TV/Internet Simultaneously (000)
128,047
Time Spent Simultaneously Using TV/Internet Per Person in Hours:Minutes
2:39
Average % of TV time Panelists spent also using the Internet
2.7%
Average % of Internet time Panelists spent also using TV
27.9%
Source: The Nielsen Company
FOOTNOTES FOR CHARTS ABOVE:
° TV in the Home includes those viewing at least one minute (reach) within the measurement period. This includes Live viewing plus any playback within the measurement period;
Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but including playback on services like Start Over as well as playback from a DVD recorder or VOD.
* TV in the Home includes Live usage plus any playback viewing within the measurement period. Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but including playback services like
Start Over as well as playback from a DVD recorder or VOD.
** Internet figures are from home and work. Hours:minutes for Internet and video use are based on the universe of persons who used the Internet/watched online video. All Internet figures
are monthly averages over the course of the quarter. Due to enhancements to Nielsen NetView and Nielsen VideoCensus, Q2 2009 figures are based on June 09 monthly metrics only.
Trending of previously-reported data with current results may show percentage differences attributable to these product enhancements and should only be compared directionally
Quarterly averages will resume with Q3 2009.
^ The average monthly unique users of mobile phones and mobile video in 2Q 2008, 1Q 2009 and 2Q 2009, projected based on Nielsen TPG surveys,Nielsen TPG Flowshare and CTIA
projections of U.S. wireless subscriptions. Video user projection, time spent and composition data based on survey analysis of past 30 day use during the period. The mobile video
audience figures in this report include mobile phone users who access mobile video through any means (including mobile Web, subscription-based, downloads and applications).
Projection of all subscribers is based on persons 2+. Projection of mobile video viewers, and all other mobile video estimates, based on subscribers 13+.
^^ Nielsen Mobile’s survey reports mobile video usage for those users 13 and older. Thus, 12-17 is T13-17 for all mobile data.
°° A65+ base size too small to report mobile video hours:minutes
°°° Figures are from Nielsen’s TV/Internet Convergence Panel, a sample of 1000 homes and approximately 2800 people (ages 2+) where both TV and Internet are electronically measured.
PCs owned by the household are measured, including laptops. PCs owned by an employer are NOT included. The panel is primarily comprised of Forced Turnover Households (FTO)
from Nielsen’s National TV panel and is therefore not a probability sample or projectable to the total U.S. population. NOTE: Simultaneous users are those that simultaneously used
the TV and the Internet for at least one minute during the month. TV in the Home includes those viewing at least one minute (reach) within the measurement period. This includes
Live viewing plus any playback within the measurement period; Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but including playback on services like Start Over as well as playback
from a DVD recorder or VOD. Simultaneous Users are weighted to the sum of weights of Internet homes in Nielsen’s National TV sample. Weighting has not been applied to the other
statistics. June 2009 is 6/1/09 – 6/28/09.
Copyright © 2009 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Produced in the U.S.A.
Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C.
A2/M2 Three Screen Report • VOLUME 5 • 2nd Quarter 2009
Key Facts:
Trends to Watch:
• Americans continue to watch more TV each year. There
• Timeshifted television will continue to grow. Currently,
are also more TVs in each home than people — in 2009 the
30% of homes in the U.S. have DVR devices. Nielsen data
average U.S. home had only 2.5 people vs 2.86 television
also shows Americans are using DVRs more than ever,
sets. 54% of Americans have three or more TV sets in
watching one hour more of timeshifted TV each month
the home.
than a year ago (7hrs, 16min in 2Q09 vs 6hrs, 5min in 2Q08).
• Online usage is relatively flat since last year, though more
• Younger demographics aren’t using the Internet as much
people are viewing video online than ever before. Certain
as older demographics, yet the growth rate of kids 2–11
age groups also view online video more than others do —
online clearly outpaces the overall Internet penetration.
Adults 18-24 watch more than 5 hrs each month vs. Adults
The number of kids online has increased 18% compared to
65+ watching just over 1 hr of online video.
10% growth for the total active Internet universe (P2+).
• Short form video (such as YouTube clips) still makes up
• Mobile video viewing continues its upward trend, with over
the lion’s share of online video viewing — 83% in May 09 —
15 million Americans reporting watching mobile video in
while name-brand TV network content comprises the
Q2 2009. This is an increase of 70% versus last year — the
majority of mobile video viewing.
largest annual growth to date.
• Americans multi-task their media — 57% of TV and Internet
homes simultaneously use the Internet and TV at least one
time per month. In addition, the average consumer’s online
This is a quarterly report published by
experience at home is in front of the television almost a
The Nielsen Company. For more information,
third of the time. As of June, 28% of consumer’s time using
please contact your Nielsen account representative.
the Internet is also spent simultaneously watching TV,
while only 3% of consumer’s time watching TV is spent
simultaneously using the Internet.
Copyright © 2009 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Produced in the U.S.A.
Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C.
