The November Internet ratings report from Nielsen//NetRatings revealed that the total number of broadband users at-home in the U.S. surpassed 21 million during the month of November, setting an
all-time high.
One out of every five surfers accessed the Internet via broadband connection, reaching a record 20% of 106 million active Internet users.
Broadband audience growth is
outpacing the overall growth of the active Internet universe. The number of surfers accessing the Internet via a high-speed connection in November jumped 90% from 2000. By comparison, the active
Internet universe grew 11% from November 2000 to 2001. Twenty percent of the active Internet population accessed the Internet via broadband in November, as compared to nearly 12% one year ago.
“Surfers continue to seek high speed connections for quicker Internet access, faster downloads and more aggressive Internet usage,”' said T.S. Kelly, director and principal analyst at NetRatings.
“Broadband surfers tend to log on to the Internet more often, stay online longer and are more likely to shop online than narrowband surfers.”
“Last year, broadband surfers spent 67% more
dollars online each month than narrowband surfers,” Kelly added. “The continued healthy growth of the broadband population bodes well for ecommerce.”
In November, 12.7 million broadband
Internet surfers consumed streaming media content at-home, jumping 94% from the previous year. The overall streaming population grew 18% year-over-year from 34.4 million to 40.7 million. The
proportion of broadband to narrowband streamers has continued to increase, growing to 31% of the total streaming population, as compared to 19% last year.
Narrowband surfers comprised a
smaller percentage of the streaming audience. In November 2001, 69% of the streaming audience accessed the Internet via narrowband, as compared to 81% a year ago.
“Broadband is a main driver
behind streaming media, with three out of every five broadband users now accessing some form of online audio or video,” continued Kelly. “Streaming usage has historically spiked around major news
events as surfers logged on to the Internet to access the latest coverage of the breaking news for Election 2000 and the events of September 11th."