• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 12, 2007

What a difference a year makes in the current rapidly changing digital media marketplace. That's what some clients of Nielsen Media Research are thinking following the company's annual national client meeting, at which the focus was less about traditional TV measurement methods, and more about the current and future potential of tracking video across a wide array of digital media platforms. The focus at this year's event shifted from intramural TV industry harangues, like the debate surrounding the new C3 ratings, to potential of unlocking the gold mind of TV digital set-top data streams.

"When did digital set-top data suddenly become the gold standard," chimed one attendee.

The rapidly shifting ground was also apparent in a series of briefing made by Nielsen executives to update their national clients on the current state of the video marketplace. The presentations covered Nielsen's preparations for the shift to digital broadcast spectrum in 2009, its current handling of digital video recorders, and even its preliminary tracking of mobile video program ratings.

The speed of that shift was evident in a DVR status update delivered by Pat McDonough, senior vice president-planning, policy and analysis at Nielsen, which showed that DVRs are not available in 20% of U.S. TV households. While that might not seem surprising to people who have been tracking the ascent of the digital TV time-shifting technology, what was noteworthy was the current status of its analog counterpart: the videocassette recorder, the once dominant technology, which has declined to nearly 70% of U.S. TV households.

The most ubiquitous digital TV technology in U.S. TV homes, meanwhile, is the DVD, which is present in nearly 90% of households. Video game systems remain flat at about 40% of households.

The rapid rise of DVRs is significant, McDonough said, because the amount of DVR playback continues to grow as more households acquire the technology. The amount of playback in DVR households for persons 18-49 relative to live is now about 28% except during the summer months, she said.

Perhaps the most interesting presentation made by Nielsen executives last week, was the one made by Kanishka Agarwal, vice president-mobile media. According to Nielsen's estimates, there currently are 239 million mobile subscribers in the U.S., 61 million of whom have video capable cell phones or mobile devices. Only 12 million of them, however, currently subscribe to a mobile video service.

Subscribers of mobile video services skew overwhelmingly young: 54% are under the age of 35.

The burgeoning mobile video marketplace also appears to be redefining the notion of "prime-time," with the highest usage occurring during daytime hours: 10% from 9 a.m. to noon; 16% from noon to 4 p.m.; and 19% from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Showing some preliminary data described as "beta," Agarwal revealed that the top-rated video programming services in terms of "MobiTV" minute of viewing between March and May 2007 were: V40 Top Hits (4,137 minutes); The Mic Hip Hop (2,433); MSNBC (2,093); Discovery Channel (2,031); and Fox Sports (954). Interestingly, none of the major broadcast networks' mainstream programming ranked especially high. NBC ranked 13th with 136 minutes of MobiTV viewing.