“Although we have seen the computer and mobile phone screens taking on a significant role, their emergence has not been at the cost of TV viewership,” said Jim O’Hara, President, Media Product Leadership, The Nielsen Company. “The entire media universe is expanding so consumers are choosing to add elements to their media experience, rather than to replace them.” Nielsen data also shows Americans are using DVRs more than ever, watching one hour more of timeshifted TV each month than a year ago. Currently, 30% of homes in the U.S. have DVR devices.

The Simultaneous TV and Internet Experience

Nielsen’s Convergence Research Panel, launched in 2008, provides single source electronic measurement of TV and Internet usage in the same homes. As of June 2009, this panel shows 57% of consumers with Internet access at home watch TV and go online simultaneously at least once a month. On average these consumers spend 2 hours, 39 minutes each month simultaneously using the Internet while also watching TV. Their online experience at home is in front of the television almost a third of the time.

Other Key Facts and Trends

• As Americans continue to watch more TV each year there are also more TVs in each home than people – in 2009 the average U.S. home had only 2.5 people vs 2.86 television sets. 54% of Americans have three or more TV sets in the home. (link to universe estimates)
• Online usage is relatively flat since last year, though more people are viewing video online than ever before. Certain age groups also view online video more than others do – Adults 18-24 watch more than 5 hrs each month vs. Adults 65+ watching just over 1 hr of online video.
• Short form video (such as YouTube clips) still makes up the lion’s share of online video viewing – 83% in May 09 – while name-brand TV network content comprises the majority of mobile video viewing.
• Younger demographics aren’t using the Internet as much as older demographics, yet the growth rate of kids 2-11 online clearly outpaces the overall Internet penetration. The number of kids online has increased 18% compared to 10% growth for the total active Internet universe (P2+).
• Mobile video viewing continues its upward trend, with over 15 million Americans reporting watching mobile video in Q2 2009. This is an increase of 70% versus last year – the largest annual growth to date.

Download Nielsen’s complete Three Screen Report for complete details and methodology.

Beyond the typical issues such as values, morality, ethics, politics and religion, the generation gap extends to attitudes toward media.  For example, younger people still watch a significant amount of TV (those age 25-34 watch more than 150 hours per month), but people age 65 and over watch 38 percent more.  People age 35 and over spend more time online compared to the young.  But when it comes to mobile phones, the young are the clear leaders in adopting and embracing new technology and products.  For example, they are more likely to forsake landline phones in favor of mobile.  They send texts with abandon – the average teenager sent or received over 35,000 messages in 2008!  That’s 163 times more than the average 65 year old.

The U.S. in 2020 will be a very different marketplace from 2009, and the generation gap – the differences in values, outlooks and political perspectives – combined with the major demographic changes we analyzed last month, will play a starring role in shaping how media and technology are used.

Read a full analysis of the generation gap in the August edition of Consumer Insight.

On May 28, Susan Whiting also published an editorial for The Huffington Post.

The recent results of Nielsen’s Three Screen Report – a quarterly analysis from Nielsen’s Anywhere Anytime Media Measurement initiative (A2/M2) – show that the average American watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home, a 1.2% increase from last year. In addition, the 131 million Americans who watch video on the Internet watch on average about 3 hours of video online each month at home and work. The 13.4 million Americans who watch video on mobile phones watch on average about 3 ½ hours of mobile video each month.

More Time Watching All Screens

In addition, Nielsen data shows that consumers’ time with TV, Internet and Mobile video continues to increase across the board. Online video grew 13% in Q1 2009, driven by both strong brand marketing and large media events including the Presidential inauguration, the Super Bowl and March Madness. With broadband levels increasing in the U.S., online video audiences will continue to grow as consumers begin to upgrade their PCs to support increased video consumption. Mobile video viewing has grown a significant 52% from the previous year, up to 13.4 million Americans. Much of this growth continues to come from increased mobile content and the rise of the mobile web as a viewing option.

Out of all different age groups, 18-24 year olds show signs of watching DVR and online video the same amount of time – timeshifting 5 hrs, 47 minutes per month, and watching video online 5 hrs, 3 minutes each month.

Download the complete Q1 09 A2/M2 Three Screen Report from Nielsen.

A key factor to this expansion is the integration of DVRs into cable and DBS set top boxes: 55 percent of DVR homes had it as part of their cable box and 40 percent had a DVR within their DBS box.  Just 5 percent had a standalone DVR.  And as households recognize the convenience DVR offers, a growing number are becoming multi-DVR households.  25 percent of homes had two, while 5 percent had three or more.

“DVRs are changing the way Americans watch TV. Despite the competition for viewers’ attention from the Internet, video games and other media, TV viewership continues to rise.  As with other vehicles, convenience is key – allowing people to consume content when they want.  DVRs are a relatively inexpensive and useful tool for viewers to do that,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President, Planning Policy & Analysis at Nielsen.

So what are people recording and when are they finding the time to playback recorded programs? Most playback is occurring during primetime, early fringe and late fringe.  Playback during the day was highest on Saturdays and Sundays as viewers used the weekend to catch up on their favorite programs and movies.  Programs recorded between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. were played back within the same day more than those airing at 10 p.m., which could impact live viewership of programs airing at 10 p.m. and later.

Of Nielsen’s 56 Metered Markets, the top ten for DVR penetration are:

Download a full copy of Nielsen’s DVR report, including more detailed information about playback, impact on program loyalty, demographics and possible implications for networks here.

“The American fascination with television and other video content is not easing up, as consumers keep turning to TV, Internet and Mobile at record levels,” said Susan Whiting, Nielsen’s vice chair.  “Viewers appear to be choosing the best screen available for their video consumption, weightinga variety of factors, including convenience, quality and access.  It is clear that TV remains the main vehicle for viewing video, although online and mobile platforms are an increasingly important complement to live home-based television.”

Other notable facts from the report include:

• Except for the teenage years, viewing of traditional television increases with age; the use of video on the Internet peaks among young adults while viewing mobile video is highest in the teen years.
• Men continue to watch video on mobile phones more than women, and women continue to watch video on the Internet and TV more than men.
• The work day (M-F, 9am to 5pm) continues to be primetime for Internet video.

To read the entire press release, click here.

The average U.S. household has 2.7 people and 2.9 TVs.  For the quarter ended September 2008, the average American watched 142 hours of TV per month, an increase of five hours from the same period in 2007.  Average Internet usage also increased, to an average of 27 hours per month.

So how has TV managed to maintain its lead? The variety of channels available on cable and satellite is clearly one factor.  There’s a network for virtually every interest.  Second, programming produced for TV is driving growth in other channels like the Internet and mobile.  The ability to download TV shows from iTunes or stream from Hulu.com or TV network site has enabled fans to watch their favorite programs when and where they want.

Valentina Nucete, Nielsen Entertainment and Virginia Harvey, Nielsen Monitor-Plus

The Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards represent the pinnacle of professional achievement in an artistic sense, and serendipitously, in a financial sense as well.

Knee-deep in the award season, Nielsen evaluated music sales data for the week prior to and following the Grammy Awards during the 2006-2008 seasons. Nine out of ten artists who won or performed at the Grammys earned the ultimate accolade—an increase in album sales. Three-quarters of those artists managed to spin a win into a jump in digital song sales as well.

Great performances

For the 2008 Grammys, two-thirds of participating artists enjoyed a sales boom of 50% or more. Notably, British warbler Amy Winehouse hit a sales high note. After nabbing five awards, her week-after-airing sales of Back to Black climbed to 4.5 times those of the show week ‘115,000 vs. 25,000 units’.

Similar sales spikes were observed for the 2007 Grammys, with half of musical participants enjoying a sales push of 50% or more during the seven day post-show period. In an unprecedented revival, The Police reunited to cut a track titled Outlandos D’Amour that copped top sales honors with a 120% unit increase.

Future focus

The nominee list for the 2009 Grammys features a number of familiar faces—including Madonna, the Eagles, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Rascal Flatts—who have appeared in two of the last three award shows as performers, winners or both. In a rare triple play, 2009 candidates Bruce Springsteen (Best Rock Song) and John Legend (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration) either performed or won Grammys in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Springsteen’s record sales following a Grammy win or appearance enjoyed a bump anywhere from 37% to 200%. Legend’s results were even more impressive, with after-show sales ranging from 77% to 700%. If the past is predictor of future success, expect to see them both at the podium again this year.

Movie magic

Just earning a nomination in the Academy Awards proved powerful enough to move the song sales dial during the critical post-program week. After winning the 2008 Best Original Song Oscar, digital downloads of the Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglovasong entry Falling Slowly rose some 207% (42,000 vs 14,000 the pre-show week). The movie soundtrack album Once, which featured the song, also saw sales soar from 19,000 to 47,000 copies.

In prior years, the Melissa Etheridge entry I Need to Wake Up from the film An Inconvenient Truth and the Houston/Coleman/Beauregard collaboration It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp from the movie Hustle and Flow grew sales by 87% and 275%, respectively. The soundtrack albums for both films increased by 59% and 77%, respectively, and other Academy Award-nominated entries in the Best Original song category followed suit, posting gains in both song and soundtrack album sales.

Ads up

Who are you wearing? Red carpet coverage has become almost as big a draw as the Oscars. The names of top designers, jewelers, hair stylists and make-up artists trip off the tongue of your average consumer. So, it’s no surprise that a department store like JCPenney holds the number three top-spending position among Academy Award advertisers for the past five years courtesy of a 2008 spend of almost $11 million, roughly one-third more than in 2007.

The top slot in award show advertising support goes to General Motors: five years running at the Academy Awards and the Grammys, three years at the Emmys, and four years at the Country Music Awards.

Worth it

L’Oreal lives its classic slogan, apparently believing award show advertising is “worth it”. The company dominated at the 2005 Golden Globes, spending $4.4 million on advertising. Procter & Gamble put its best face forward at the MTV Video Music Awards, reigning as top sponsor every year except 2006.

Apple chose to debut its groundbreaking iPhone at the Academy Awards in July 2007, five full months prior to product release, spending a whopping $5 million on three TV spots. Even the government got into the award advertising game, spending its way onto the MTV Video Music Awards’ top10 advertiser list for 2004-2008 thanks to a massive recruitment ad budget.

Encore ads

Success breeds success, or at least cultivates encore advertisers. Keen observers will note that many advertisers from the February 2008 Grammy Awards also ran schedules during the 2009 Grammy nomination announcements. For example, sponsor P&G slated seven spots for total air time of 2 minutes 30 seconds. Other repeat advertisers included Sprint and Time Warner. A highlight of the announcements was a digital duet featuring Best Buy and the Apple iPod in a 30-second spot.

Viewer attrition

Despite robust advertiser support, award shows are not the “draw” they used to be. The MTV Video Music Awards now skew to younger females, with a rapidly dwindling male audience. The downward spiral can be seen in Academy Award viewership, the Emmy Awards and the Grammys, with only the Golden Globes managing to hold its audience fairly constant.

As for what’s behind the downturn, there are any number of theories. Some blame a dated format that drags on. Some find the scripts predictable and boring. Some find the talent too old and unrelatable. Some believe the awards themselves are pretty much predetermined by the box office results. Take your pick as to the main motivation, it’s undeniable that consumers are taking a pass.

The 2008 Oscar show averaged a 10.7 rating in adults 18-49, down 24% from the 2007 audience and 14% below the previous low, suggesting that all age groups are losing interest. The zenith of Academy Award broadcasts was the 1998 show when Titanic won a record-tying 11 awards, drawing 55 million U.S. viewers.

Chicks and flicks

On a more upbeat note, the 2007 Oscar numbers were up 3% over the prior year, particularly among women 18-34 and 18-49. Overall, the telecast drew 8% more viewers among adults 18-34, achieving a 12.9 rating that was its best performance among this demographic in five years.

Perhaps explaining the attraction of the Oscars to advertisers, Claritas and Spectra drafted a very appetizing profile of the average viewer, describing her as an upper-middle-income to upper-income female, at least 35 years old, college educated and residing in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Pacific regions.

Critics aside, award shows are earning rave reviews from advertisers and the retailers who benefit from a telecast-driven sales lift for winning and performing artist offerings.

On average, 41% of all homes watched the V.P. debate last Thursday — up one-third from the first presidential debate the previous Friday night, which reached an average of 31% of all households.

Of all households, 39% watched neither debate, while 30.3% tuned in to both.  11.2% of all homes tuned in to the presidential debate only, and 19.5% tuned in to just the V.P. debate. 

Both debates drew audiences made up mostly of white viewers with higher levels of income ($100,000+) and education (4+ years of college).

Older viewers (age 55+) made up the largest portion of the TV audiences for both debates (42% – 46%).  However, the Biden-Palin V.P. debate (median age: 52) drew a slightly larger portion of younger viewers than the first Obama-McCain debate (median age: 54).

Homes headed by African Americans made up a larger portion of the presidential debate audience (14.0%) than the V.P. debate audience (12.3%).  African American homes normally account for 12.2% of all U.S. TV households.

Overall, Hispanic viewers were less likely to watch the debates.  Hispanic households, which account for 11.1%  of all TV households in the U.S., made up just 6.3% to 6.5% of the combined audience for the two debates. 

A closer look at the minute-by-minute ratings for both debates reveals few peaks or drop-offs in household viewing, which remained steady throughout both the telecasts.

Read the full report — and stay tuned during the presidential debates for more Nielsen TV audience analyses.