• by Joe Mandese , November 19, 2010

In a trend that appears to defy media planning logic, if not actual physics, America's consumption of TV continues to expand, despite the expansion of other multimedia options. In an update to its quarterly "State of the Media" reports, Nielsen Co. indicates that U.S. consumption of television continues to expand, albeit with a little help from a frenemy: the DVR.

The rate of TV consumption is, " essentially flat compared to the same period a year ago," Nielsen said, adding that, "the emergence of the DVR as a widely distributed device has changed viewing behaviors in many homes.

"The average person living in a DVR home watched 24.5 hours of DVR playback during this period," Nielsen continued. "Looking at demographic groups more closely, the age group that watched the most television by DVR playback was viewers age 25-34. That demographic watched 29.5 hours of DVR playback per month."

While the number of Americans watching TV during the second quarter of 2010 is up only 0.8% over the second quarter of 2009, the number watching time-shifted viewing has grown 18.4%.

The result is that overall time spent watching TV by Americans is essentially flat, as the amount of viewing done on a time-shifted basis continues to grow.

One thing that does not appear to be changing, according to Nielsen, is that teens continue to consume the least amount of TV, while consumption is growing among older viewers.

Overall Usage Number of Users 2+ (in 000’s) – Monthly Reach
	Q2 2010	Q1 2010	Q2 2009	% Diff Yr to Yr
Watching TV in the home°	286,648	286,225	284,306	0.82%
Watching Timeshifted TV°	97,914	94,599	82,677	18.43%
Source: The Nielsen Company