With the brackets set and first round matchups set to tip off on Thursday, Nielsen has released its first annual Guide To March Madness, which tracks a range of consumer and media information surrounding the event.
“The NCAA Tournament is very attractive to sports marketers even in tough economic times,” said Tom Ziangas, SVP for Nielsen Sports. “The games playing out over several weeks make it a sort of mini-series for viewers. There’s always some unexpected drama or Cinderalla story – like Davidson College last year – that makes March Madness a …

In Q4 of 2008, 11.2M people watched tv or video on their cellphones according Nielsen, an increase of 9% over the previous quarter. The report tracks usage by demographics, types of content viewed,  engagement, devices used and more. The number of mobile video subscribers grew overall as well to 18.6M, a jump of 13% over the previous quarter.
Key findings in the Mobile Video Report

51% of mobile video viewers surveyed reported that they are new to the medium, viewing for less than 6 months
Viewers are spending an average 17 sessions per …

Apple’s iPhones have doubled their penetration rate versus a year ago, according to Nielsen’s most recent Home Technology Report.  iPhone penetration hit 5.9 percent in Q3 2008, up from 3 percent in Q3 2007.
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 …

Nielsen has released a new white paper on mobile video use, as reported in Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.  Details from the report include:
-Each month, 10.3 million U.S. mobile phone subscribers access video content via their phones — up 14% from 2007
-Still, mobile video use in the U.S. remains low (5% of all subscribers), compared to other mobile media
-Among mobile video users, Apple’s iPhone is the most popular phone: as of Q3 2008, 11% of all streaming video users were using an Apple iPhone, and 35% of iPhone users reported …

Online social network giants MySpace and Facebook battled for supremacy in 2008.  The trend lines below show the percentages of consumer-generated online discussions that mentioned each site between June and December:

Nielsen Claritas tracked consumer behavior across a wide range of telecommunication products and services to identify this year’s key trends.
Cord Cutting Craze
Wireless/cellular only homes, which grew by 20% in 2008, now account for 18% of all U.S. households.  One-third of the wireless-only households have never had a landline, while the remaining two-thirds are cord cutters. Not surprisingly, cord-cutter households tend to be younger and are more likely to rent/lease their home.  Expect the wireless-only trend to grow, as homes continue to drop their landlines and young adults start new households …

According to data compiled by Nielsen for the third quarter of 2008, more than 100 million US consumers – 42% of mobile subscribers – have video-capable cell phones. An estimated 10.3 million of those mobile consumers are watching TV/video on their cell phones. These findings indicate that mobile video viewing has increased 14% as compared with Q2 2008.
On average, viewers are spending an average 17 sessions per month viewing video, spending roughly 15 minutes per session. Apple’s iPhone emerged as the top device among mobile video viewers, with 9% of …

At the end of Q3 2008, Nielsen estimates that there are 3.6M mobile subscribers Apple’s iPhone (U.S.-based over 13), giving the device a 3% market share in the mobile business. Growth seems evident as one in five subscribers (21%) who intend to upgrade their mobile device in the next 12 months say they’ll consider purchasing an iPhone next – up from just 15% last year. In addition to Apple and AT&T’s combined 36M advertising campaign, what may be driving this growth is unmatched customer satisfaction. In Q3 2008, 89% of …

TIME reported Monday that the iPhone may provide the burgeoning cell-phone gaming market with just the boost it needs to establish itself as a portable gaming mainstay.
Currently, millions of Americans play games on the portable Nintendo DS and Sony PSP every day — but, the story noted, fewer than 10% of cell-phone users in the U.S. do the same on their mobile phones, according to Nielsen Mobile.
Armed with a spate of newly improved downloadable games and ample hardware capabilities for running games, the iPhone seems poised to lure gamers away from …

On Monday, Nielsen Mobile released first quarter 2008 smartphone statistics for the U.S.  Among the findings:
 
Smartphone users are predominantly male (59%) and most are between the ages of 25 and 34 (29%) or 35 and 44 (24.5%). 
A third of smartphone users (35.1%) have an annual household income of more than $100,000. 
More than half (52%) keep their phones for personal use, while another 23% say their company foots the bill.
View the Full Nielsen Media Alert: 6-30-08-smartphone-blast.