- Staff Report

A growing number of Americans are watching video online and on their cell phones, but not at the expense of standard television. Americans are watching more TV than ever, resulting in a 4% screen time increase over the past year, according to a report released today by Nielsen.

The report is the first in a series from Nielsen (the parent company of Brandweek), looking at activity, such as video viewing, which occurs on a monthly basis over TV, the Internet and mobile phones. The figures are calculated using Nielsen’s National TV and Internet panels; cell phone figures are collected via a quarterly survey.

The findings show that screen time of average Americans has increased from 121 hours, 48 minutes to 127 hours, 15 minutes per month between May 2007 and May 2008. As of this May, over 65% of U.S. homes are able to get digital cable and satellite TV, with digital households receiving nearly 160 channels. Additionally, 25% of U.S. homes have DVR and 35% have Video on Demand, according to Nielsen.

TV, however, is not the only source of video for American consumers. During the same period, Internet usage also has grown 9% (from 24 hours, 16 min. to 26 hours, 26 min. per month). More consumers are watching video online (2 hours, 19 min. per month) and on their cell phones (3 hours, 15 min. per month). The report found that 119 million unique visitors viewed 7.5 billion video streams online this May alone. Video-capable phones are now in the hands of 91 million Americans, which make up 36% of all wireless subscribers in the U.S.

"Web video is changing the definition of the Internet for those under the age of 24. Those under 24 use the Internet less than older users but spend a greater percent of time viewing video," Nielsen CMO John Burbank said in a statement. "While the number of mobile video users is relatively small at about 4 million, the video usage these early adopters report is impressive . . . It is an early indicator of how this technology is becoming more commonplace among mobile users."