To get a better sense for how the world is watching video, today, Nielsen recently completed a survey of more than 27,000 online consumers in 55 countries, asking simple questions about how they watch video. Internet access still varies considerably by region, so the results of an online survey are not representative of the total global population, but show us how an important subset of the global population (the connected population) is consuming video across multiple platforms. The results from the survey, with corresponding syndicated Nielsen insights where available, were released today in a new report, “How People Watch – A Global Nielsen Consumer Report.”

“This report provides one of the broadest looks at how consumers watch video, to date,” says Matt O’Grady, who oversees the integration of Nielsen’s TV, online and mobile audience measurement. “The research reveals how connected consumers all over the world are expanding their video experience across screens.”

Key Findings

• Online Video: approximately 70% of global online consumers watch online video; but North Americans and Europeans lag in adoption. More than half of global online consumers watch online video in the workplace.
• Mobile Video: is already used by 11% of global online consumers: penetration is highest in Asia-Pacific and among consumers in their late 20s.
• Tablet PCs: are expanding the definition of mobile video. Globally, 11% of online consumers already own or plan to purchase a tablet PC (such as an iPad) in the next year.
• Television: is a universally important platform for video consumption, with connected consumers in many markets spending 4+ hours per day watching television.
• HDTV (High-Definition TV): is improving the TV viewing experience for as many as 30% of global online consumers. Adoption is highest among older consumers and in North America, where HD content has proliferated.
• 3DTV (Three-Dimensional TV): will have a small but important audience: 12% of global online consumers own or have definite intent to purchase a 3DTV in the next year.
• “Over the Top” TV: televisions with Internet connections are gaining interest. About one in five (22%) global online consumers owns or has definite interest in buying a television with Internet connection in the next year.

For the first time, this report identifies important differences in cross-platform video behavior by region and country:

• Claimed TV viewership is higher than average in the emerging BRIC economies, Brazil, Russia, India and China, and lower than average in many developed European markets
• North America and Europe appear to lag slightly behind other regions in the use of online and mobile video
• Connected consumers in Asia-Pacific are 45 percent more likely to use mobile video than the global average
• Claimed interest for Tablet PCs is highest in MEAP markets: Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. Connected Pakistanis are twice as likely as the global population to say they own or are interested in a Tablet PC.
• Connected Latin American consumers express above average interest in TVs with Internet connections. Online Consumers in Colombia, in particular, are very interested in acquiring this technology.

• Download “How People Watch – A Global Nielsen Consumer Report“

Born between the years 1946-1964, the oldest of the Boomers are beginning to retire. But today’s middle aged and older consumers are different than their predecessors. The conventional wisdom that they spend little, resist technology and are slow to adopt new products needs to be re-assessed. Boomers are an affluent group who adopt technology with enthusiasm (think about the number of parents or grandparents who regularly send e-mails or upload photos to Facebook and other sites). They have also shown a willingness to try new brands and products.

Boomers should matter to marketers and CPG companies because they spend 38.5% of CPG dollars. Yet it’s estimated that less than 5% of advertising dollars are currently targeted towards adults 35-64 years old (which includes the latter half of Generation X in addition to Boomers). With most marketers generally targeting 18-49 year olds, more than half of the affluent Boomer demographic is ignored entirely.

“Boomers should be as desirable for marketers as Millennials and Gen-Xers for years to come; they are the largest single group of consumers, and a valuable target audience. As the U.S. continues to age, reaching this group will continue to be critical for advertisers,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President, Insights, Analysis and Policy at the Nielsen Company.

Consider these Nielsen facts about Boomers:

• Dominate 1,023 out of 1,083 consumer packaged goods categories
• Watch the most video: 9:34 hours per day
• Comprise 1/3 of all TV viewers, online users, social media users and Twitter users
• Time shift TV more than 18-24s (2:32 vs. 1:32)
• Are significantly more likely to own a DVD player
• More likely to have broadband Internet access at home

And if you think that the web sites Boomers visit are entirely different than those visited by adults age 18-34, you’d be mistaken: 8 of the top 10 web sites are the same:

At a time when most analysts are predicting much slower growth in consumer spending, manufacturers and marketers need to look at every opportunity to grow market share. Boomers can represent tremendous potential to those who know how to reach them.

According to Shimmel, shifting to online video mainly appears to be happening in small pockets of the population, including young, emerging households. Households with no cable subscriptions at all, but who subscribe to a broadband service, also reflect a younger population of college graduates and lower to middle income consumers who may not be fully convinced of the need to pay for digital cable. However, Nielsen data shows that these individuals are typically light TV viewers who watch 40% less TV per day than the national average. And while they stream about twice the average amount of video, they still only stream about 10 minutes per day, hardly an indication of a monumental shift to online-only viewing.

There’s no question that marketers and researchers will be eagerly watching this demographic to see whether their viewing habits change over time, but for now the idea of a cord-cutting revolution appears to be purely fiction.

Fast Facts

• The number of people per month viewing online video increased 6% year-over-year.
• There was a 9% increase year over year in the amount of time per month people spent online.
• Online video streaming still only accounts for less than 2.5% of total video consumption across all demographics.
• Among heavy video streamers 12-34, there are significant shares of time allocated to streaming.

12-24 year olds are more connected, more tech savvy, and more likely to use personal devices such as smartphones, laptops and other gadgets for video viewing. They are also less likely to watch traditional television. But much of this is driven by economic necessity and lifestyle choices, and is likely to change as the younger becomes the older generation.

Young people’s media habits seem to have more to do with their specific life stage than with their particular generation. Teens living at home tend to watch more TV overall than 18-24 year olds busy with college or their first jobs. But the “first screen,” TV, is less central to both. That may be because they either don’t have a TV in their bedrooms or dorm rooms, or because they have to negotiate control of the remote with others in their household. Lower TV viewing by 18-24 year olds may also be due to the fact that they tend to be out-and-about more than older folks (especially during prime time).

Terrill argued that as these same cohorts age and settle down, they will watch more TV. After all, they finally have the time, opportunity, and financial ability to control that first screen.

The thesis is borne out by the behavior of previous generations, who started out watching low levels of television and then watched more as they aged.

The teens of 2001 watched less than 25 hours of television a week but by 2009 as they aged into 18-24s, they were watching 31 hours of television. Even more dramatically, the young adults of 2001 watched less than 25 hours of television but watched more than 36 hours a week of television as they aged into the 25-35 cohort.

As of Q3 2008, the average American watched approximately 142 hours of TV per month — five hours more than they watched in a typical month during the same period a year ago.

Americans who used the Internet were online 27 hours a month, and people who used a mobile phone spent 3 hours a month watching mobile video.

Men were more likely than women to watch via mobile phone, while women were more likely then men to watch video online.

DVR usage was up significantly (52.5%) in Q3 2008, compared with Q3 2007.  Americans spent more than six hours per month watching timeshifted TV — double the amount of time they spent watching video online.  The only exception: 18-24 year-olds, who consumed more video online (four hours, 48 minutes) than via DVR (four hours, 36 minutes).

During the 2007-08 television season, the average U.S. household took in eight hours and 18 minutes of TV per day, a record high since Nielsen started measuring television in the 1950’s.

“TV use is at an all-time high, yet people are also using the Internet more often — 31% of which is happening simultaneously,” Susan Whiting, vice chairperson, Nielsen, noted.

Download the report.

Learn more about viewing across the “three screens” – view Manish Bhatia, of Nielsen, addressing the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s December 2008 forum.

In addition to watching the Games on TV, three of four people in China will keep abreast of Olympics events via streaming online video, one-third will rely on mobile phone text updates, and 14% will view video clips of the Games on their mobile phones, Nielsen’s survey found.

Two in 10 Chinese plan to use online video streaming as their main method of viewing this summer’s Olympics, while another two-thirds of Chinese will keep abreast of the Games via newspapers.

Many Chinese will also adjust their lifestyles to fit the Olympics schedule.  Nine in 10 plan to adapt their personal schedules to accommodate the Games, and 7 in 10 will change their working hours.

Another 30% said they will watch Olympics coverage at work, as many Chinese companies are making special arrangements for Olympics viewing during the work day.

View the full press release.