American children aged 2-11 are watching more and more television than they have in years. 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. The older segment of that group (ages 6-11) spend a little less time, about 28 hours per week watching TV, due in part that they are more likely to be attending school for longer hours.

This trend of increased viewing among children mirrors the overall increase in media consumption we’ve been tracking over the last two years across TV, Internet, Games and Mobile phones. And much like their older family members, the majority of viewing for these kids is still done watching live TV.

Very Early Adopters
While 97% of kids’ viewing is through live TV, younger kids spend more time than the older group viewing via DVR, DVD and, to a lesser extent, VCR. Four percent of kids aged 2-5 watch via those devices on average across total day compared to 2.3% for those aged 6-11. Their considerable use of these devices at a young age points to them being able to adopt new devices comfortably as they grow up.

One more thing younger kids do more than those age 6-11 is watch more commercials. Young kids also watch commercials in playback mode more than older kids and adults, as well as watch their favorite shows over and over and over on DVD, VOD and DVR.

Older kids may not use the DVR, DVD and VCR as much as the very young, but they spend twice as much time playing video games — 2 hours 23 minutes a week compared to 1 hour 12 minutes for those 2-5. Internet usage among older kids is also significantly higher as nearly half of kids 6-11 spent time on the Internet in August versus 20% of kids 2-5.

Three NFL games appeared at the top of the C3 ratings list for the 18-49 year old demographic group. These games, like most sports programming, did not receive much of a lift from rating for live viewing and the C3 number. The top entertainment shows received a bigger boost from DVR playback, however. After three days of DVR playback, Fox’s House rose more than a full rating point to 6.3 from 5.2. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy rose from a 5.1 live rating to a 6.1 rating on C3.

A key factor to this expansion is the integration of DVRs into cable and DBS set top boxes: 55 percent of DVR homes had it as part of their cable box and 40 percent had a DVR within their DBS box.  Just 5 percent had a standalone DVR.  And as households recognize the convenience DVR offers, a growing number are becoming multi-DVR households.  25 percent of homes had two, while 5 percent had three or more.

“DVRs are changing the way Americans watch TV. Despite the competition for viewers’ attention from the Internet, video games and other media, TV viewership continues to rise.  As with other vehicles, convenience is key – allowing people to consume content when they want.  DVRs are a relatively inexpensive and useful tool for viewers to do that,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President, Planning Policy & Analysis at Nielsen.

So what are people recording and when are they finding the time to playback recorded programs? Most playback is occurring during primetime, early fringe and late fringe.  Playback during the day was highest on Saturdays and Sundays as viewers used the weekend to catch up on their favorite programs and movies.  Programs recorded between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. were played back within the same day more than those airing at 10 p.m., which could impact live viewership of programs airing at 10 p.m. and later.

Of Nielsen’s 56 Metered Markets, the top ten for DVR penetration are:

Download a full copy of Nielsen’s DVR report, including more detailed information about playback, impact on program loyalty, demographics and possible implications for networks here.

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 DVR viewing), computers, mobile devices and “all other screens,” including in-cinema movies, GPS and display screens outside of the home.

Key findings of the study include:

• Consumers aged 45-54 racked up an average of more than 9 1/2 hours of screen time a day.

• The average for all other age groups was similar at roughly 8 1/2 hours.

• Computer video watching took on average just two minutes a day.

• TV still dominates, even among those aged 18-24.

• Radio usage has dropped to third, behind TV and computer usage, but ahead of print media.

• TV viewers were exposed to an average of 72 minutes of TV ads and promos every day, dispelling the conventional wisdom that people are channel-hopping or otherwise avoiding ads.

Read the full press release.

Nielsen’s “Ethnic Trends In Media,” is a comprehensive report profiling African-American, Asian, Hispanic and White households in the U.S.  This report examines household characteristics, television usage, timeshifted viewing and popular programming genres for each group.

Key findings include:

• Household characteristics are quite different across each ethnic break.  Size, geographic territory and media ownership, such as video game consoles and DVRs, are just some of the notable differences

• TV usage is different: Persons age 18-49 in African-American households view more TV than Total U.S., while Hispanic and Asian persons in the same age group was less.

• The median age of a TV viewer is 45, but African-American, Asian and Hispanic viewers tend to be younger (40, 39, 32, respectively).

• Participation variety shows, such as Dancing with the Stars and Biggest Loser 6, are the most popular genre for total U.S. viewers, and are near the top for all ethnic breaks.  Fox NFL Sunday Football was the top or near-top program for all ethnic breaks except for Hispanics, who favored “Fuego En La Sangre” on Univision.

Download a PDF of the full report here.

“The American fascination with television and other video content is not easing up, as consumers keep turning to TV, Internet and Mobile at record levels,” said Susan Whiting, Nielsen’s vice chair.  “Viewers appear to be choosing the best screen available for their video consumption, weightinga variety of factors, including convenience, quality and access.  It is clear that TV remains the main vehicle for viewing video, although online and mobile platforms are an increasingly important complement to live home-based television.”

Other notable facts from the report include:

• Except for the teenage years, viewing of traditional television increases with age; the use of video on the Internet peaks among young adults while viewing mobile video is highest in the teen years.
• Men continue to watch video on mobile phones more than women, and women continue to watch video on the Internet and TV more than men.
• The work day (M-F, 9am to 5pm) continues to be primetime for Internet video.

To read the entire press release, click here.

In addition to the increased popularity of the iPhone, Nielsen found that DVRs such as Tivo are showing up in more homes, with penetration up over 50% versus a year ago.  Households with teens were over 30 percent more likely than the average household to own or rent a DVR device.

Download the full report here.

Nielsen’s Q3 2008 Home Technology report measures quarterly survey data on American technology usage and attitudes.  A Nielsen PreView study based on this HTR focused on adoption rates on over 50 current technology devices and technology subscriptions.

The difficult economic conditions have forced most Americans to think about how they spend their money, so it is little surprise that 63 percent of those surveyed said that they had changed their spending habits.  26 percent said that they had cut back TV-related spending, primarily by purchasing fewer video on demand and pay-per-view movies/events (16%) or making fewer purchases and rentals of DVDs (19%).  11 percent of people surveyed said that they had altered their cable/direct satellite subscription package in some way, while 3 percent said that they had cancelled their subscriptions altogether.

Overall, more men and women aged 18 to 34 said that they had cut back on TV-related spending, and that same age group also cancelled their cable/satellite subscriptions at higher rates than other age groups. Households with kids changed their spending habits slightly more (66%) than the group as a whole, as did African-American, Asian and Hispanic Households (70%, 75%, 77%, respectively).  Hispanics also cancelled their cable/satellite service at a much higher rate than other groups, with 13 percent of those households ending their service versus the overall average of 3 percent.

“While some kinds of discretionary spending, such as travel and car and clothing purchases, have taken a significant hit, TV-related expenses have been spared significant cuts at this point.  Consumers may reduce the number of movies they rent, or perhaps downgrade their service, but overall it appears that TV continues to be almost a necessity rather than discretionary,” said Pat McDonough, senior vice president of Planning Policy & Analysis at Nielsen.

To read more about this and other related data, click here for Nielsen’s SportsQuest^TM Survey.

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.

William P. Young’s ”The Shack” was the top-selling fiction book through November 30.

Among non-fiction books, “A New Earth,” by Eckhart Tolle was the top-seller.

The audio version of Tolle’s “A New Earth” was the top-selling audio book of the year.

Top 10 Book Sales: Adult Fiction

Top 10 Book Sales: Adult Non-Fiction

Top 10 Audio Book Sales: Adult and Juvenile

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.

It’s official: Americans love their carbs.  The Bread and Baked Goods category ranked number one for 2008 — both in terms of consumer purchases and retail sales.  According to Nielsen, 99% of U.S. homes purchased bread/baked goods at least once during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008.  The Bread/Baked Goods category raked in $18.3 billion in sales through November 1.  Other popular CPG categories include paper products, snacks, and carbonated beverages.

Scarborough Research, a joint partnership with Nielsen and Arbitron, also reported on the top U.S.  markets for online shopping.  Washington, D.C. and San Francisco ranked first and second, respectively, with 39% and 35% of adults spending $500 or more online in the past year.  Nationwide, 25% of adults reported spending $500 or more online in the past year.

Top 10 Consumer Packaged Goods Purchased by U.S. Homes

Top 10 Consumer Packaged Goods Sold in U.S. Retail Stores

Top U.S. Markets For Adults Who Spent More Than $500+ Online Last Year

View the press release.

Relive the greatest hits of 2008 — stay tuned on Nielsen Wire for more Tops In 2008 coverage.

Look ahead to the new year with Nielsen Wire’s 2009 Industry Outlook series.