Television,

Internet
and Mobile
Usage in the U.S.

Nielsen’s Three Screen Report

May 2008
Television, Internet and Mobile Usage in the U.S.
This is the first in a series of reports from The Nielsen Company summarizing the amount of
activity, including video viewing, which occurs on a monthly basis by the average user over
television, Internet and mobile phones.
The TV and Internet figures below are calculated using Nielsen’s National TV and Internet panels
which are measured electronically and reported on a regular basis. The Mobile Phone figures are
collected by Nielsen via a quarterly survey, and give a firsthand look at how early adopters report
their usage of mobile video.

Table 1

Overall Usage Number of Users 2+, Per Month (in 000's)

May ‘08 May ‘07 % Diff
Watching TV in the home* 282,348 278,400 1.4%
Watching Timeshifted TV* 63,265 46,632 35.7%
Using the Internet** 161,690 154,134 5%
Watching Video on Internet** 118,673 n/a n/a
Using a Mobile Phone^ 217,076 n/a n/a
Mobile Video Subscribers Watching
4,400 n/a n/a
Video on a Mobile Phone^

Table 2

Time Spent in Hours:Minutes Per User 2+, Per Month

May ‘08 May ‘07 % Diff
Watching TV in the home* 127:15 121:48 4%
Watching Timeshifted TV* 5:50 3:44 56%
Using the Internet** 26:26 24:16 9%
Watching Video on Internet** 2:19 n/a n/a
Mobile Video Subscribers Watching
3:15 n/a n/a
Video on a Mobile Phone^

Copyright © 2008 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved.

Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C. 2
Nielsen’s Three Screen Report May 2008

Table 3

Time Spent in Hours: Minutes per Month - May 2008

K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-44 A45-54 A55-64 A65+
On Traditional TV* 87:00 89:09 103:27 118:59 124:01 145:03 159:59 177:50
Watching Timeshifted TV* 4:16 3:36 3:55 9:28 8:13 6:46 5:49 2:57
Using the Internet** 4:58 12:01 12:18 29:00 38:47 33:52 34:44 26:01
Watching Video on Internet** 1:30 1:45 3:41 3:22 2:48 2:03 1:33 1:12

Mobile Video Subscribers Watching

n/a^^ 05:25^^ 3:02 3:36 2:53 2:53 2:10 n/a°
Video on a Mobile Phone^

Table 4

Percent Composition of the Video Watching Audience - May 2008

K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-44 A45-54 A55-64 A65+

On TV* 10% 6% 8% 13% 14% 17% 14% 18%

On the Internet** 8% 9% 7% 15% 18% 20% 15% 7%

On Mobile Devices^ n/a^^ 23%^^ 12% 27% 18% 13% 6% 1%

Table 5

Percent Composition Video Watching Audience – May 2008

F2+ M2+

On TV* 54% 46%

On the Internet** 55% 45%

On Mobile Devices^^ 46% 54%

FOOTNOTES FOR CHARTS ABOVE:

* TV includes live viewing plus any playback viewing; Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but including playback on services like Start Over
as well as playback from a DVD recorder.
** Internet figures are from home and work. Hours:minutes are based on the universe of persons who watch online video.
^ Survey results reported in April 2008, this is a Q1 2008 estimate of only those mobile subscribers that subscribe to and use video on their mobile phone,
over the past 30 days.
^^ Nielsen Mobile’s survey reports mobile video usage for those users 13 and older. Thus, 12-17 is T13-17 for all mobile data.
° A65+ base size too small to report mobile video hours:minutes

Copyright © 2008 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved.

3 Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C.
Nielsen’s Three Screen Report May 2008

Highlights of Television Viewing: • Women have a higher tendency to view video content on
• Americans are watching more traditional television than TV-affiliated sites, while men index higher in their use of
ever. The television figures cited here include all TV viewing video on consumer-generated media sites, including
in the home provided through a number of distribution YouTube and MySpace.
sources. TV viewing included is distributed through over • Online Video usage will likely grow as broadband becomes
the air, cable, satellite or telephone company. Use of ubiquitous and consumers upgrade their hardware.
the TV for video games, DVD play or home recorded videos
is not included.
Highlights of Mobile Usage:
• The U.S. television landscape is also growing increasingly
more complex and digital. As of May 2008, more than • As of Q1 2008, 91 million (36% of all mobile phone
65% of U.S. homes receive digital cable and satellite subscribers in the U.S.) owned a video-capable phone. As
combined. These digital TV homes receive nearly 160 more subscribers upgrade to phones capable of receiving
channels. mobile video, subscription cost, promotion and network
speeds will be the primary challenges to the growth of
• In addition, 25% and 35% of U.S. homes have DVR and mobile video consumption.
Video on Demand respectively. As the number of homes
with the ability to time shift increases, we should expect • As of Q1 2008, there were already 13.9 million persons
that people will have more choice of television (6% of U.S. mobile subscribers) paying for a mobile video
programming available to them and more choice in plan, up from 8.4 million (4% of all mobile subscribers)
when to watch. in Q1 2007.

• The DVR has changed TV viewing in the U.S. and playback • 4.4 million persons (2% of U.S. mobile subscribers or 31%
represents about 5% of total viewing. As of May 2008, of those who subscribe to mobile video) report that they
14% of all TV tuning in primetime in DVR households was watched mobile video with a mobile video subscription.
playback. Among DVR households, about half of the • In addition, 95 million persons (37% of U.S. mobile
commercial content was viewed when programming was subscribers) subscribed to mobile Internet as part of their
played back within 3 days. mobile data plan in Q1 2008, a significant platform for
mobile video consumption.

Highlights of Internet and Online Video Usage:

• Two hundred twenty million Americans have Internet In Summary
access at home and/or work and 73%, or 162 million This is the first look at how Americans of all ages use the three
went online in May. screens of television, Internet and mobile phones. The screen
• Watching video on the Internet is no longer a novelty; time of the average American continues to increase. Americans
nearly 119 million unique viewers viewed 7.5 billion video are watching more traditional TV than ever, and we also see an
streams in May 2008. The average viewer spent 2 hours increasing amount of time spent on the Internet and watching
and 19 minutes in May streaming video online. online video. At the same time a small but growing number of
consumers are utilizing their cell phones for video access. The
• While time spent watching online video represents less than Nielsen Company will publish this report quarterly and include
10% of overall Internet usage, 73% of the active Internet integrated metrics as they become available.
population viewed video online during May. The availability
of diverse content – including TV, consumer-generated and
news – has fueled the growth of online video.

For more information, please contact your

Nielsen account representative.

Copyright © 2008 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved.

Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C. 4