CHICAGO — More Americans are simultaneously surfing the Web while they watch television, according to a new report from the Nielsen Co.
In the last quarter of 2009, Americans spent 3.5 hours a month using the Internet and TV together, up from 2 hours and 36 minutes in the same period of 2008. Nielsen said 59 percent of Americans used the Internet and TV simultaneously once a month in late 2009, compared with 57.5 percent a year earlier.
“The initial fear was that Internet and mobile video and entertainment would slowly cannibalize traditional TV viewing, but the steady trend of increased TV viewership alongside expanded simultaneous usage argues something quite different,” Matt O’Grady, Nielsen Co. media-product leader, said in a blog post highlighting the report’s findings.
The report also said online video consumption had grown 16 percent from a year earlier, with 44 percent of all online videos being watched at the office. Nielsen noted that consumers tend to use online video like a DVR to watch missed episodes, rather than as a substitute for regular TV viewing. Chicago Tribune
