Roger Entner, SVP, Head of Research and Insights, Telecom Practice
With the telecom landscape in constant flux, carriers continue to find unique ways to add to their bottom lines. While the Kindle, Amazon’s wireless reading device , has been touted as a savior for the newspaper industry, it also represents the first example of the long-predicted ad hoc subscription model for Sprint, which provides the wireless access for Kindle as subsidized by Amazon. Sales of the Kindle drove a majority of Sprint’s 394,000 wholesale additions …

Fueled by the expansion of smartphones and the availability of unlimited data packages, the U.S. mobile internet market grew 74% between Feb 07 and Feb 09 according to Nielsen. The most talked about handset, the iPhone, had a U.S. audience of 5.1 million unique users in January 2009. Though this still represents just a fraction of the mobile universe, the device has had an undeniable halo effect on mobile media adoption.

Consumers have more choices than ever from which to access media: traditional television, the Internet, and mobile devices like cell phones and iPods.  As more options exist, they serve to actually increase the amount of time people view media as opposed cutting into viewership of one format or another.  Despite the array of options, television continues to be the primary way Americans of all ages consume media.  In the last quarter of 2008, the average Nielsen household watched more than 151 hours of television per month.  Internet users logged on …

Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit social networking or blogging sites, accounting for almost 10% of all internet time, according to a new Nielsen report “Global Faces and Networked Places.” If data captured from December 2007 through December 2008 is any indication, that percentage is likely to grow as time spent on social network and blogging sites is growing more than three times the rate of overall Internet growth.
“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” commented John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds …

If you’ve cut the cord on your landline and rely solely on a cellphone for calls, you’re likely to spend more time listening to the radio and sampling more stations, according to a pilot study in Lexington, KY run by The Nielsen Company. In March, Nielsen will roll out similar studies in 51 other major markets.
The Lexington study found that cell-phone-only homes logged nearly 23 hours of radio listening per week compared to just over 19 hours for the total sample.
In addition, the sample group:

Listens to 3.5 radio stations compared …

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 …

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.

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.
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 …

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.
Sony’s Playstation 2 was the top game console of 2008, claiming 31.7% of all measured console minutes, according to Nielsen.  The Xbox 360 and Wii ranked second and third, respectively, with 17.2% and 13.4% of all usage minutes between January and October of this year.
Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft” was the most popular PC game title of the year, drawing an average of 0.723% of all PC …

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.
Google was the most popular website with U.S. Internet users, drawing the largest audience (120 million unique visitors per month, on average) through October 2008.
As of 2008, the most prolific content downloaders in the U.S. live in California, according to Scarborough Research, a joint partnership with Nielsen and Arbitron. The San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose market had the highest percentage (32%) of adults who had downloaded …