Karen Watson,  Managing Director, Government & Public Sector Sales, The Nielsen Company
One hundred days is scarcely enough time to draw any firm conclusions about a new president’s capabilities. Even so, Barack Obama has garnered considerable respect for his media skills. Pundits have dubbed him the “new media president;” while some of the most cynical among them believe his underlying strategy is to end run traditional Washington gatekeepers by communicating more directly with constituents sympathetic to his agenda. But his fans and critics alike may be missing the bigger picture.
“As audiences …

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 …

Viewing of video on television, Internet and mobile devices — the Three Screens — continues to increase and has hit record levels.  Nielsen’s fourth quarter A2/M2 Three Screen Report reports that the average American watches more than 151 hours of TV per month, an all-time high.  They are also watching several hours of video on other devices: those who watch it on the Internet consume another 3 hours of online video per month, and those who use mobile video watch nearly 4 hours per month on mobile phones and other devices.
“The …

Despite the proliferation of mobile devices and online video, television continues to capture the most viewers, according to recent Nielsen research.  But how people are watching television has evolved and it is these advances that have made TV more relevant than ever.  They aren’t necessarily “watching TV” on TV – they are increasingly likely to watch TV programs on the Internet or on their cell phones, according to an article in the The New York Times.
The average U.S. household has 2.7 people and 2.9 TVs.  For the quarter ended September …

TV, Internet, and mobile usage continues to grow in the U.S., according to a report released today by Nielsen.
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 …

ESPN enthusiasts like their sports — and the more they watch sports, the more ways they follow it.
Sports fans who watched both ESPN and used ESPN.com spent 27% more time watching ESPN TV than TV-only users — and 50% more time using ESPN.com than Internet-only viewers, according to a recent study of ESPN fans’ cross-platform media consumption habits by Nielsen Connections.
Pete Doe, Managing Director, Nielsen Connections, and Glenn Enoch, Vice President, Audience Research, ESPN, reported the findings of that research in the September issue of Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.

On Tuesday, The Nielsen Company released the first U.S. figures showing video and TV usage across the “three screens”: television, the Internet, and mobile devices.
Nielsen’s findings show that TV users are watching more TV than ever before (127 hrs, 15 min per month), while spending 9% more time using the Internet (26 hrs, 26 min per month) than last year.
A small but growing number of Internet and mobile phone users are also watching video online (2 hrs, 19 min per month) and on their cell phones (3 hrs, 15 min …