While we are not yet spending 90% of our time watching “glowing rectangles” as The Onion joked last year, Americans are consuming more and more video across all three screens (TV, Web, Mobile) according to our recent A2/M2 Three Screen Report. But do we watch TV online the same way we watch on our living room TV?

Looking at Nielsen’s online panel data of U.S. visitors to online TV sites (ABC.com, CBS.com, CWTV.com, Hulu.com, or NBC.com) in the last 30 days, we actually found more differences than similarities when it came to viewing behavior, demographics, and even ad effectiveness. Demographically, those watching online TV Network video are closer to DVR users by gender breaks, but closer to the general online population relative to age.

The broader usage patterns suggest that online video is, for the most part, a replacement of DVR use, or used by those who do not have immediate access to TV. In short, TV network content online is used to catch up with programming, and not typically as a replacement for TV viewing as results from our email survey showed.

When We Watch
Online TV Network consumption appears to be an activity set aside in specific sessions from most other online activities. When we go online to watch TV shows, that activity dominates that particular online session, with women and the 18-34 crowd spending the biggest parts of their sessions on network viewing.

While many of us may watch TV with friends or family members, the viewing of TV shows online proves to be a rather solitary activity. This may change as internet connectivity to our main TV screens becomes more ubiquitous, but right now, the majority of online viewers prefer to be alone.

Advertising Impact
TV commercial spots reused online appear to be more impact on recall and likeability than creative just designed for online as this case study with food and beverage ads shows.

This look into the similarities and differences of TV viewing on the web should be a reminder to brand managers that “context” is just as much king these days as content.

UPDATE – 12/18/09: This article on the A2/M2™ Three Screen Report and related documents have been updated to include data from the full time period of the quarterly report, resulting in increased numbers for in-home, and time-shifted TV viewing. The previous report did not include viewing from the first week of the new Television Season.

Nielsen’s latest A2/M2™ Three Screen Report – a quarterly analysis from our Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement™  initiative – shows considerable year over year growth in terms of time spent for DVR (up 22.5%) and online video (up 34.9%) in Q3 2009. Given the consistent spike in usage among the three screens of television, Internet and mobile, consumers are clearly adding video platforms to their schedule, rather than replacing them.

“Americans today have an insatiable appetite for not only content, but also choice,” says Nic Covey, director of cross-platform insights at Nielsen. “Across all age groups, we see consumers adding the Internet and mobile devices to their media diet — consuming media anytime and anywhere possible.”

What We Watch Weekly
For the first time this quarter, Nielsen reports how much time the average American spends in a typical week with TV, Internet and mobile devices. Without a doubt, consumers of all ages spend the majority of their video time (nearly 99%) in front of the television, while DVR and online video are becoming more widely used.

• In 3Q09, the average American watched more than 31 hours of TV per week, with 32 minutes spent in playback mode with their DVR.
• In addition, each week the average consumer spent a little more than 4 hours on the Internet and 22 minutes watching online video.
• The average consumer spent 3 minutes watching mobile video each week.

The TV and Internet figures in this report are calculated using Nielsen’s National TV and Internet panels, which are measured electronically and reported on a regular basis. The Mobile phone figures are collected by Nielsen via a quarterly survey and give a firsthand look at how early adopters self-report their usage of mobile video.

Other Highlights of the Report

• Almost 99% of video content watched in America is still done on traditional television
• DVR and Online Video continue to show solid growth – up 22.5% and 34.9% respectively in time spent from Third Quarter 2008
• Teens continue to watch mobile video the most, at just over 7 hours per month, though mobile video is not just a young medium, as mobile users Adults 45-54 report viewing nearly 3 hours of video on their mobile phones

• Download Nielsen’s A2/M2™ Three Screen Report

Jim O’Hara, President, Media Product Leadership, The Nielsen Company

The Findings

One of our primary tools for observing three screen behavior has been the TV/Internet Convergence Panel, which is made up of 1,000 households in the U.S. that formerly participated in our TV ratings panels. These households, accounting for almost 3,000 people, were asked to install a Nielsen software meter on their computers in addition to the meters these households had already permitted us to install on their televisions, enabling us to measure both Internet and television activity.

What we have found to date is that despite the initial presumptions and fears of some, media consumption has actually increased. Each of the three screens has its benefits and people are using them as complements, not as substitutes, for one another. With respect to TV and Internet usage, we found that a fair number of people are doing both simultaneously, though in relatively small increments per day – an average of ten minutes per day per person. In our multitasking culture, watching TV while checking e-mail or surfing the Internet has become more and more common: more than half of our panelists had some simultaneous activity. Among that group, 3.7% of the time they were watching television they were also on the Internet and 31.6% of the time they were online they were also watching television. What was rather unexpected was that this behavior was not limited to any one age demographic: a teen was as likely to be engaged in simultaneous usage as was someone 54 years old. And the amount of time they were doing this was comparable.

So who is sharing their time online with TV? Women age 25 and over and persons 35 and up are most likely to juggle the two media. Further, they tend to be above-average consumers of each platform. Simultaneous users watch 14 percent more TV a day and use the Internet 61 percent more than the average consumer. Clearly, during that expanded timeframe they are exposed to a large number of ads and the opportunity to reach them is greater.

Implications for Marketers

Until fairly recently, marketers would develop campaigns based on the individual medium – one for TV and another for the Internet. Often times, these campaigns would bear little resemblance to each other. But today, we know that doing so risks passing up an opportunity to reach a captive audience. The simultaneous usage phenomenon presents new marketing opportunities: the unique strengths of each medium can be leveraged to allow consumers to be reached – and allow them to reach back – in ways that they choose themselves.

For example, TV can deliver the call-to-action via advertising. The Internet can provide a convenient venue for the action, and enable the consumer to get more information about or actually purchase a product or service. Advertising that takes advantage of this linkage of platforms is already being implemented with particularly strong results.

To gauge the effectiveness of this concept, we looked at a few traditional retailers during the 2008 holiday season to see which of them were most successful in stimulating cross-platform behavior. In December, the highest percentage of people who watched TV while using retailer web sites went to Target.com Target was also among three retailer web sites (second to Walmart and before Best Buy) that were uniquely able to draw a high percentage of simultaneous Internet and TV users – 3.8 percent. Visitors to its web site were more likely to be watching TV while at the site, and 10.2 percent of Target.com visitors said that they had seen a Target commercial on TV. Based on these figures, it seems clear that the simultaneous use of the two media had a measurable effect on behavior.

All signs are that media consumption across screens will continue to grow. Advertisers and media outlets that develop ways to capitalize on consumer cross-platform experiences and leverage the strengths of each will likely benefit. Now more than ever, a call-to-action – be it to visit a web site for more information or to make a purchase – can yield an immediate reaction from the consumer using both TV and Internet. But regardless of the medium, the key to successful marketing is having the right message that can make a real impact with the target audience the advertiser wants to reach. With increasing numbers of consumers expanding their use of media, marketers have more opportunities than ever to do so.

We are now expanding the scope of the Convergence panel to include measurement of video viewing on mobile phones. So expect more from Nielsen on simultaneous usage, cross-platform measurement and marketing implications as the three screen evolution continues.

The recent results of Nielsen’s Three Screen Report – a quarterly analysis from Nielsen’s Anywhere Anytime Media Measurement initiative (A2/M2) – show that the average American watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home, a 1.2% increase from last year. In addition, the 131 million Americans who watch video on the Internet watch on average about 3 hours of video online each month at home and work. The 13.4 million Americans who watch video on mobile phones watch on average about 3 ½ hours of mobile video each month.

More Time Watching All Screens

In addition, Nielsen data shows that consumers’ time with TV, Internet and Mobile video continues to increase across the board. Online video grew 13% in Q1 2009, driven by both strong brand marketing and large media events including the Presidential inauguration, the Super Bowl and March Madness. With broadband levels increasing in the U.S., online video audiences will continue to grow as consumers begin to upgrade their PCs to support increased video consumption. Mobile video viewing has grown a significant 52% from the previous year, up to 13.4 million Americans. Much of this growth continues to come from increased mobile content and the rise of the mobile web as a viewing option.

Out of all different age groups, 18-24 year olds show signs of watching DVR and online video the same amount of time – timeshifting 5 hrs, 47 minutes per month, and watching video online 5 hrs, 3 minutes each month.

Download the complete Q1 09 A2/M2 Three Screen Report from Nielsen.