During December 2011, there were 164.3 million unique U.S. video viewers who streamed over 22 billion videos and spent more than 5 hours on average watching online video.

Almost one in three U.S. TV households – 35.9 million – owns four or more televisions, according to Nielsen.

During November 2011, there were 166.9 million unique U.S. video viewers who streamed almost 22 billion videos and spent more than 5 hours on average watching online video.

Nielsen’s new Social Media Report looks at trends and consumption patterns across social media platforms in the U.S. and other major markets, exploring the rising influence of social media on consumer behavior.

When it comes to mobile video apps like YouTube, Hulu or Netflix, consumers say the best things in life are free. According to a new study released by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and Nielsen, 63 percent of survey respondents said that “free or low subscription rates” is the most important attribute for a video app.

Who watches the most TV? Women watch more than men, African-Americans outpace other ethnicities and older Americans tune in at higher rates than those their junior, according to the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report. The report shares video consumption across traditional TV, mobile and online.

Streaming video online is on the rise in the U.S., and how consumers tune in differs greatly across services. According to a recent Nielsen survey, the majority of Netflix users report watching on a TV screen. In fact, half of all Netflix users connect via a game console (Wii, PS3 or Xbox Live).

In the Cross-Platform Report, Nielsen finds a resounding trend: Americans are spending more time watching video content on traditional TVs, mobile devices and the Internet than ever before.

At a time when consumers are more sophisticated than ever and networks and advertisers are looking for ways to deepen engagement with their audiences, they are turning to Nielsen for help in better understanding the connected consumer in an increasing fragmented media landscape.

Nielsen applies a wide variety of methodologies to derive insights from our data, so we’ve taken a more granular look at mobile data from our recent “What Americans Do Online” post.