• by Wayne Friedman , January 5, 2010

Almost 60% of global consumers say they would pay for online access to music, theatrical movies and TV shows -- but not much else.

Results from a global study conducted by The Nielsen Company, which surveyed 27,000 consumers in 54 countries, showed that professionally produced content, including video games and print magazine content, were also high-ranking for consumers. About 50% of consumers would pay for this content online.

Consumers have a lesser desire to pay for blogs, consumer-generated video, radio news and talk and social community content. Here, only 20% to 28% of consumers said they would pay in these areas.

In a blog filed by Nic Covey, director of cross-platform Insights for Nielsen, he writes: "[Consumers] are more inclined to spend money on what they already pay for, rather than on what they currently get for free."

Overall, many consumers would prefer to have free content -- and will put up with more advertising to keep it that way. Nielsen says nearly half (47%) of global respondents want ads to subsidize free content.

The highest levels were consumers from the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. Fifty-seven percent of respondents in these countries are open to more advertising. Consumers in the Asia and Pacific territories followed, at 55%, saying they would take on more advertising.

But consumers in North America and Europe are less likely to want more advertising in return for free content -- just 40% of North America respondents and 39% of European respondents.