Commentary

Nielsen Notes Uptick In Smartphone Video Views

Nielsen released its  Q2 2014 Cross-Platform Report this morning and as far as I can see it lacks any startling statistical development. But if you take a look at how things are trending, it’s got some interesting numbers.

As Donna Turrill, senior vice president, insights, notes in a short introduction,  people are consuming content like crazy, using all kinds of devices to do it.  “Never before have we seen this level of fragmentation and yet, the sum total of media consumed is growing,” she writes.

At the edges might be the story. For example, Nielsen divides users of some devices into quintiles, and among smartphone users in the top quintile, their video viewing in Q2 this year rose to 6 hours and 42 minutes a week, compared to 4 hours and 36 minutes only a year ago.

That’s a huge increase, and the Nielsen stat shows those users watch six times more video via phone than the next bunch. Altogether, though, viewership via smartphone--72% of the population now owns one-- has gone up to 1 hour and 41 minutes a week for the total population, compared to 1 hour and nine minutes a year ago.

The digital revolution belongs to the young and there’s no doubt about that. But at the other end of the spectrum, older users may give an indication of how fully integrated digital video is becoming.

People 50-64 spent an average of nine minutes with digital video two years ago. That’s up to 19 minutes today, or put another way, they’re now watching as much digital video today as 18-34s were watching in 2012.  

Still, that older bunch are people who are watching TV for 6 hours and 12 minutes a day--my God!--compared to 4 hours and 17 minutes a day for younger people.  Both of those TV stats are trending down--5 minutes a day for 18-34s and six minutes a day for 50-64s.

TV viewing is trending downward, though it is such a hugely viewed contraption the stats don’t seem so jarring. But they are significant. In Q2, TV viewing occupied our time for an average of 4 hours and 36 minutes, compared to 4 hours and 48 minutes a year ago and 4 hours and 45 minutes in Q2 in 2012.  

In Q2, 284.4 million still used TV, up from 282.6 million a year before, and 175.2 million time shifted some viewing, compared to 167.1 million a year ago. And 258.9 million listened to radio, up a smidge from a year ago.

But here’s something that might open your eyes: While 145.3 million watched videos via the Internet, that’s down from 149.8 million a year ago, while watching video on a smartphone went from 96.9 million a year ago to 114.3 million in Q2 this year. Hmmm.              


pj@mediapost.com
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