More people are spending more time watching video over the Internet or on mobile phones in the United States, yet the impact on traditional TV viewing and subscription has been negligible so far, two reports released on Monday showed.
A report by Nielsen Company found that in the fourth quarter of 2008, more than 123 million Americans watched video over the Internet, an increase of 2.3 percent compared with the previous quarter.
Viewers spent two hours and 53 minutes a month on online video in the last three months of 2008, up 22 minutes or 15 percent from the previous quarter, the report said.
Meanwhile, more than 11 million Americans watched video on mobile phones or other devices, increasing 9 percent from the previous quarter. On average, they spent three hours and 37 minutes viewing mobile video, an increase of 2 percent from the third quarter last year.
However, according to the Nielsen report, traditional television is still the most popular screen for Americans to view video.
It said that in the fourth quarter last year, about 285 million of the nation's 306 million people watched TV, and average American watched more than 151 hours of TV per month, an all-time high.
"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," Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen, said in a statement.
Leichtman Research Group on Monday also released the latest findings of its annual report of online and other emerging video services in the United States.
The report found that usage of online video by Americans expanded in the past year with 34 percent of adults online at home viewed some type of video over the Internet at least weekly, compared with 31 percent a year earlier and 25 percent two years ago.
But it also showed that those who watched recent TV shows online weekly are no more likely to consider disconnecting their TV subscription than others.
(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2009)
