Once a novelty, the digital video recorder is now in 38 percent of U.S. homes, and its increasing popularity represents both a blessing and a challenge for the TV and advertising industries.

As the appetite for home entertainment and tech evolves, Nielsen’s Home Technology Report identifies hot technology trends and ones that have cooled over the past two years.

Prior to his panel appearance at the 2010 CES, Scott Brown discussed three screen measurement and why TV is really still the ultimate “killer app” when it comes to reaching people.

Trends in 2009 include a rise in households that have “cut the cord” by trading their traditional landlines for wireless cellular services and an increase in mobile media device usage among a diverse set of households.

The consumer has entered an age of enlightenment with expanded options for devices, content, and schedules. What does the next 3-5 years have in store? Five key trends will have a significant impact.

As a preview of key media themes for the 2010 CES, Nielsen Executive Vice President and Vice Chair Susan Whiting recorded a podcast with UpNext at CES, to discuss time-shifting, consumer choice and how ratings are becoming smarter across all three screens.

New findings from The Nielsen Company show kids aged 2-5 now spend more than 32 hours a week on average in front of a TV screen.

Nielsen today released “C3″ ratings data for television viewing in the first week of the 2009-2010 TV season.

Americans are watching more TV than ever, and the increasing penetration of DVRs has likely contributed to increased viewership.  But “Must See TV” doesn’t mean that people are gathering around their TV anymore during primetime on a Thursday night.  Appointment viewing is now when the viewer wants to watch it thanks to DVRs.  As of March 2009, 30.6 percent of households in Nielsen’s National People Meter Panel have a DVR, up significantly from just 12.3 percent in January 2007.
A key factor to this expansion is the integration of DVRs into …

A ground-breaking study conducted by Ball State University’s Center for Media Design and Sequent Partners found that younger baby boomers – those 45-54 years old – are the top consumers of video media.
Conducted on behalf of the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence, the study ran over the course of a year and used a custom media collector program developed by Ball State.  Researchers gathered a wide range of data usage of any of the four categories of screens: traditional TVs (including DVD/VCR and …