The survey is based on a sample of 1,372 households. Telephone interviews, using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) system, were used to collect the information from the sample households. Interviews were conducted with a randomly selected household member at least 12 years old.

Hot Trends:

• Bigger and Better TVs
  Upgraded television sets in the form of bigger screen sizes larger than 41 inches and better resolution continue to outfit in-home theaters. Specifically, HDTV sets have increased 26.9% and LCD flat screens are up 48.2% from Q3 2008 to Q2 2010.

• Home Internet Access
  Internet and broadband access in the home continues to rise – up 2.5% and 3.8%, respectively between Q1 2010 and Q2 2010. Currently, 85.3% of Americans have some kind of Internet access either through home and/or work.

• Home Wi-Fi
  The freedom of untethered connectivity helps the trend to go wireless continue. Having a wireless network in the home increased 8.2% from Q1 2010 to Q2 2010 and 24% over eight quarters.

• Digital Video Recorders
  Demanding schedules have made time-shifted viewing a must-have for 40% of U.S. homes who currently have a DVR device. And DVR adoption continues, increasing 14.5% from Q1 2010 to Q2 2010.

• MP3 Players
  Almost half (46%) of all U.S. homes now have at least one MP3 Player. Apple’s iPod is still the dominant player in this category, capturing 63% of all MP3 Player-owning households.

• Apple iPad
  The Apple iPad launched on April 3, 2010, and was added to the Nielsen Home Technology Report survey shortly thereafter (May 2010). According to the Q2 report, 3.6% of U.S. homes now own an iPad and this hot trend will be closely followed.

Cooling Trends:

• Satellite Radio
  While crystal clear audio, uninterrupted playlists and anywhere access make Satellite Radio an enticing experience, it experienced only modest growth over the past eight quarters, up just 5.5%.

• Video Cassette Recorders
  VCRs continue to disappear from U.S. households as DVRs and DVD players provide both greater functionality and better playback clarity at an increasingly affordable price. Add the fact that U.S. movie studios are no longer releasing movies in the VHS format and you can expect the VCR to become just another trivia question for a digital generation no longer familiar with yesterday’s analog technologies. Currently, VCR ownership within U.S. homes is 70.2%, down 10.6% from Q3 2008 when it was 78.5%.

• Digital Video Disc Players
  DVD players are down 0.6% from Q1 2010 to Q2 2010.  With 87.9% of U.S. homes already owning a DVD player, the “hot” growth phase for DVD players has long passed.

• Personal Digital Assistants
  The PDA is also becoming a rare sight these days within U.S. households. PDA ownership has declined 25.5% since Q3 2008 and will likely continue. Credit the Smartphone that provides both handheld computing capability and a phone for much of the PDA’s steady market share decline.

Using data collected from its national and local television panels, the quarterly Home Technology phone survey and the Nielsen Claritas 2008 Convergence Audit survey, the report provides a detailed look at how Americans are getting on the internet and the differences by various demographic breaks.

Key findings of the report include:

• Internet access is correlated with education level and a household’s combined annual income. As they increase, so does the likelihood of internet access.
• Internet access is lowest in Hispanic and African-American homes, as well as those where the head of household has not completed a high school education.
• Access is much lower in rural areas and in homes that receive only broadcast TV.
• Those using dial-up service tend be older, with more modest incomes and lower education levels than those using high-speed internet.
• The East South Central region (consisting of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky), had the highest number of households with no internet access – 26 percent.
• The top five markets with the highest percentage of homes with internet access are Washington, DC, Norfolk, Salt Lake City, Boston and Portland, OR.
• The five markets with the lowest percentages are Knoxville, Greenville, Albuquerque, Memphis and Tulsa.

“Our findings indicate that there remains opportunity for growth in internet access in the U.S.  Indeed, President Obama stated during the campaign that we had to view broadband internet access the same way we did telephone service and electricity – an essential utility available to all regardless of economic status,” said Steve McGowan, Senior Vice President, Insights and Client Research Initiatives at Nielsen.  “But part of the challenge in extending web access to all Americans is the fact that there are more homes without computers, than there are homes with computers but lacking internet access.”

To view the complete report, click here.

During this period, households with broadcast only (i.e., no cable or satellite service) TVs declined from 11.5 percent to 10.9 percent while cable or satellite service has increased slightly from 88.5 percent to 89.1 percent.  This increase may be related to the upcoming transition to digital television that was originally set to take place in February 2009.

Satellite service grew modestly as well, from 28.0 percent to 28.8 percent.  Cable or satellite service with pay channels, such as HBO, Showtime and Cinemax, has grown steadily over the five quarters, from 47.0 percent to 49.4 percent.

Digital Video Recorders (DVR) have grown in popularity over the last five quarters, with 28.9 percent of households owning a device, up from 21.3 percent in Q4 2007.  20.2 percent of homes have one DVR, while 8.7 percent have two or more devices. Homes capable of receiving high definition television jumped from 12.9 percent on Q4 07 to 23.4 percent in Q4 08.  Video game console ownership increased from 37.8 percent to 39.0 percent, while homes containing personal computers with internet access increased from 70.9 percent to 73.8 percent.  More than 54 percent of households had one or two TVs, 24.9 percent owned three TVs while 20.8 percent owned four or more sets.

“At this point, we have no indication that economic factors are causing homes to cancel their cable subscriptions or cut back on DVR, HD, gaming or Internet capabilities.  These segments have remained steady – or in some cases, increased – over the five quarter period we studied,” said Pat McDonough, senior vice president of Planning Policy & Analysis at Nielsen.  “That said, one factor that may be masking any economic component is the digital transition.  It may have been necessary for some homes to invest in new equipment to prepare for the conversion.”

In terms of device usage, Nielsen found no significant increases or declines in TV viewing, DVR playback, DVD playback or video game console use, suggesting that the economy has had no measureable impact on these activities.

According to a separate Nielsen survey, the Home Technology Report, consumers continue to purchase new technologies for home entertainment.

The Home Technology Report telephonically surveyed 1,433 people in Q4 2008.