According to a new study from The Nielsen Company, with almost 100M US viewers watching timeshifted TV, these viewers grew at a much faster year-over-year rate than the number of traditional in-home
TV viewers.
TV Usage Trends (Monthly Reach of Overall Users 2+ in 000s) |
| 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, November 2010 |
According to the research, the amount of television
viewing in the U.S. remains high. In the second quarter of 2010, the average person watched more than 143 hours of television per month. This average is essentially flat compared to the same period a
year ago.
TV Usage Trends: Q2 2010 (Monthly Time Spent in Hours:Minutes
Per User 2+) |
| Q2 2010 | Q1 2010 | Q2 2009 | % Diff Yr to Yr | Hrs:Min Diff Yr to Yr |
Watching TV in the home | 143:37 | 158:25 | 143:51 | -0.2% | -0:14 |
Watching Timeshifted TV (all TV homes)* | 9:27 | 9:36 | 8:02 | 17.7% | 1:25 |
DVR Playback (only in homes with DVRs) | 24:27 | 25:48 | 24:11 | 1.1% | 0:16 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, November 2010 |
As in past periods, the
lowest overall TV viewing is done by teens, with viewing increasing with each older age break. And women watch more television than men, with 54% of all TV viewing consumed by women.
TV Viewers (% of Total Users) |
| Age Group | Gender |
2-11 | 12-17 | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | Male | Female |
On TV | 10% | 6% | 8% | 12% | 22% | 24% | 18% | 46% | 54% |
Source: The Nielsen Company, November
2010 |
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 1/2 hours of DVR playback during this period.
TV Usage Trends (Q2 2010
Monthly Time Spent in Hours:Minutes Per User 2+) |
| Q2
2010 | Q1 2010 | Q2 2009 | % Diff Yr to Yr | Hrs:Min Diff Yr to Yr |
Watching TV in the home | 143:37 | 158:25 | 143:51 | -0.2% | -0:14 |
Watching
Timeshifted TV (all TV homes)* | 9:27 | 9:36 | 8:02 | 17.7% | 1:25 |
DVR Playback (only
in homes with DVRs) | 24:27 | 25:48 | 24:11 | 1.1% | 0:16 |
Source: The Nielsen Company,
November 2010 |
Looking at demographic groups more closely, viewers age 25-34 watched the most television by DVR playback at 29 1/2 hours per month.
Monthly TV Time Spent (Hours: Minutes Q2 2010) |
| Age Group |
| 2-11 | 12-17 | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | All
2+ |
On Traditional TV | 107:32 | 103:46 | 113:54 | 130:21 | 145:06 | 173:40 | 196:21 | 143:37 |
Watching Timeshifted TV | 6:49 | 6:01 | 6:56 | 12:52 | 12:15 | 10:56 | 6:02 | 9:27 |
DVR Playback (only in homes with
DVRs) | 16:13 | 15:50 | 19:30 | 29:29 | 28:31 | 28:45 | 23:37 | 24:27 |
Source: The Nielsen Company,
November 2010 |
Overall blacks spent the most time per month watching TV and Asian-Americans spent the least. However, whites spent the most time per month
watching timeshifted TV and Hispanics spent the least. Whites also spent the most monthly time watching DVR playback, while Asian-Americans spent the least
TV Audience Composition (Q2 2010 Monthly Time Spent By Ethnicity & Race) |
| White | Black | Hispanic | Asian American |
On Traditional
TV | 138:56 | 199:06 | 126:08 | 92:06 |
Watching Timeshifted TV | 10:36 | 6:32 | 5:57 | 6:47 |
DVR Playback (only in homes with DVRs) | 25:31 | 21:04 | 22:09 | 19:22 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, November 2010 |
Source: The Nielsen Company. Based on Total Users of each Media.
- TV viewing patterns in the U.S. tend to be seasonal, with TV usage higher
in the winter months and lower in the summer months, sometimes leading to a decline in quarter to quarter usage
- Traditional TV and Timeshifted TV viewing estimates are based on
persons in TV Households (292 million); DVR Playback viewing estimates are based on persons in DVR Households (110 million)
For additional information, please visit Nielsen here.