Analysis: Debate Digital Viewing Numbers Align with Nielsen Cross-Platform
So TV won the battle for debate viewing.
Obviously.
What’s noteworthy though about Pew’s just-released analysis of how Americans viewed the first presidential debate earlier this month was that 11% of viewers watched and followed coverage of the debate on more than one screen.
Pew found that 85% of Americans who watched the debate live watched on TV only, while 3% watched on a computer or phone only, and 11% used two screens. In most cases, that latter figure means they followed coverage of the debate online or on a mobile phone while watching on TV.
On the one hand, the 3% figure might seem small. But I contend that the digital video viewing number as well as the dual-screen number are both promising figures for digital venues. These figures line up squarely with other reports that indicate digital habits. In Nielsen’s most recent cross-platform report from the first quarter of 2012 , the research firm found that traditional TV viewers spent an average of 155 hours per month watching content, while online video viewers averaged 5 hours and 24 minutes per month. That means online video comprises about 3% to 4% of the time spent watching TV.
Online video is still a small fraction of TV viewing, but yet it’s growing year over year.
So while TV may have dominated debate viewing, it’s supposed to right now. But other mediums are making steady progress, especially when considering the habits of younger viewers. “Overall, 32% of those younger than 40 say they followed the debate live online, including 22% who followed it both on television and online, and 10% who followed exclusively on a computer or mobile device,” Pew said.
The Pew figures from the debate are exactly what they should be - a positive sign that online video viewing, though small, is significant enough to register on surveys, and that digital engagement — based on the 11% dual-screen figures - is a very real phenomenon. The Pew post-debate survey was conducted October 4-7 among 1,006 adults.
Recent Video Daily Articles
-
Fiat Hopes It Has a Cheap Viral HIt Coming at You May 22, 3:20 p.m.
Automakers are always among the top advertisers on network TV and usually the very top ...
-
What's The Point of NewFronts, Anyway? May 21, 2:10 p.m.
Gees, I know you expect a lot of trenchant analysis in this space, but at the ...
-
Tremor's VideoHub Gets MRC Nod for Its Viewability Tech May 20, 3 p.m.
A certain big segment of the ad business still gets bugged about viewability issues—it sounds ridiculously ...
-
Too Much of A Soap Thing: 'All My Children,' 'One Life to Live' Will Lengthen Time Between New Episodes May 17, 1:22 p.m.
There’s something interesting to be learned—maybe—from the revelation that fans of the new online versions of ...
-
The Wonders and Contradictions of Counting Audiences May 16, 2:10 p.m.
The emerging digital age is nothing if not contradictory and filled with its own ironies, and ...
-
Networks Want a Better Accounting of All That Television Online May 15, 2:15 p.m.
Editor's Note: This story incorrectly refers to Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings as the data source for ...
-
The Private World of Broadcast Upfronts May 14, 3 p.m.
The new broadcast network schedules being announced this week include the typical ballyhoo, but it seems ...
-
My Advertisement For Online Advertisments May 13, 2:40 p.m.
I bristle at the notion of watching commercials for fun, but I bristle at a lot ...
-
Those Vine Videos Do Get Around, A New Study Says May 10, 9 a.m.
Unruly, the company that tracks video sharing, reports this morning that five Vine videos are shared ...
-
'Made for Web' Content Work Just Fine For Advertisers, Says New Tremor Video Research May 9, 10:08 a.m.
Some of online video’s top content makers spent all of last week showing advertisers their new ...
Be the first to comment on "Analysis: Debate Digital Viewing Numbers Align with Nielsen Cross-Platform"
Leave a Comment