• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 2, 2008

According to the The Nielsen TV/Internet Convergence Panel, the heaviest users of the Internet are also among the heaviest viewers of television: the top fifth of Internet users spend more than 250 minutes per day watching television, compared to 220 minutes of television viewing by people who do not use the Internet at all. Nielsen found that the reverse is true as well - the lowest consumers of television have the lowest usage levels for the Internet.

The study shows that nearly 31% of in-home Internet activity takes place while the user is watching television, demonstrating that there is a significant amount of simultaneous Internet and television usage. Conversely, about 4% of television viewing occurs when the consumer is also using the Internet.

Other findings from Nielsen's TV/Internet Convergence Panel include:

50% of the Convergence Panel panelists had viewed some streaming content online. The demographics of those streaming the most were:

• 82% of female teen panelists viewed streaming content
• 64% of male teens
• 57% or men 18-34
• 55% of men 35-54

Nearly 60% of panelists and more than 80% of people who watched TV and used the Internet that month had simultaneous sessions - watching TV and being online at the same minute. This group tends to be very heavy users of both TV and Internet.

Teens are the most likely demographic to have simultaneous TV/Internet usage, but Adults 35-54 have the most simultaneous usage minutes.

Howard Shimmel, Senior Vice President Client Insights, The Nielsen Company, says "It is too early to draw... firm conclusions about behavior... but... early trends... indicate that online usage is complementing, not substituting for, traditional television viewing... "

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