81 Million People in U.S. Watch Broadband Video at Home or Work, According to Nielsen and CTAM

Little Impact on Traditional Television Viewing From Broadband Video Use

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. and NEW YORK, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated 81
 million people, or 63% of the 129 million people who access the Internet
 over broadband in the U.S., watch broadband video at home or at work,
 according to new research conducted by The Nielsen Company for The Cable &
 Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM). This number increased
 from 70 million in September 2006 to 81 million in March 2007, a jump of
 16% in just six months.
     The analysis also showed that traditional home television ratings are
 minimally, if at all, affected by broadband video viewing over the
 Internet, because broadband viewing was found largely to be incremental new
 viewing rather than a substitute for traditional television viewing.
     The multi-phased study -- A Barometer of Broadband Content and Its
 Users -- provides the first comprehensive look at the relationship of
 broadband video consumption at home and at work to traditional television
 viewing behavior. It also presents a detailed analysis of specific
 television network viewing preferences among broadband video users across
 all key demographics.
     Commissioned by CTAM and conducted by Nielsen Entertainment and
 NielsenConnect, the multi-faceted research effort integrates analysis from
 across The Nielsen Company. Findings were derived through online research
 based on the Nielsen//NetRatings MegaPanel and NetViews services, extensive
 interviews conducted in the Nielsen Entertainment digital lab, and a
 "fusion" of the quantitative online survey data with television viewing
 data from Nielsen Media Research's National People Meter sample.
     "Nielsen was delighted to work with CTAM on this report, which reflects
 the value we can create by integrating data and analysis from across our
 company," said Susan Whiting, Executive Vice President, The Nielsen Company
 and Chairman, Nielsen Media Research. "This approach allows us to deliver
 new insight into our clients' customers and markets."
     Key findings from the report include:
 
     -- Online Video Usage Supplements Traditional Television Viewing Overall:
        Online video (including broadband video at work and in the home) was
        shown to add to overall video viewing more frequently than it replaced
        traditional television viewing in the home, representing a net audience
        gain to total television viewing.  Thirty-three percent of those
        surveyed indicated that watching video over broadband Internet
        increased their television viewing time, vs. 13 percent who indicated
        it decreased their traditional television viewing.
 
     -- Potential Upside for Increased Television Program Viewing Online is
        High Among Current Broadband Video Users:  An additional thirty-two
        million lighter broadband video users report being open to more TV
        programs via the Internet.  Further, consumers indicate that greater
        awareness of where to find the videos they're seeking, better
        navigation interfaces, and the increased availability of more
        high-profile television programs online could significantly drive
        future broadband video content use over the long-term.
 
     -- TV Set Access is the Tipping Point for Widespread Broadband Video Use:
        Based on respondent feedback, widespread consumer use of broadband
        video seems to be contingent on Internet platform video content
        becoming more easily accessible via home television sets.  At that
        point, consumers say, Internet video fare could assume its place as
        another source for content on demand.
 
     -- Broadband Video Use is Dominated by the Top Brands: ABC.com was the
        leader across all broadband viewer visits to television network Web
        sites, while Yahoo! Movies was the leader in the movies category.
     "The growing popularity of broadband video programming makes it vital
 to better understand its true impact on the viewership of and engagement
 with television," said CTAM President and CEO Char Beales. "This research
 provides an unprecedented look at how consumers are making television
 viewing decisions as well as which consumers are more likely to embrace
 broadband content in the future."
     "Linking television viewing data with Internet usage behavior goes far
 beyond what traditional survey-based research methods can offer to help
 content providers best manage the growth of television and broadband video
 platforms," said Paul Donato, Chief Research Officer of The Nielsen
 Company. "The fusion of these discrete Nielsen data sets into a single,
 unified analysis provides the most complete benchmark of broadband content
 viewing behavior to date."
     "There have been major changes over the last 30 years in how television
 is consumed-the remote control, portable TV, time shifting DVRs-but one of
 the most dramatic promises to be television via the Internet," said Tim
 Brooks, Research Committee liaison to the CTAM Board of Directors and
 Executive Vice President, Research, Lifetime Television. "This new study
 helps us understand the impact of this radically new method of distribution
 both as it is now, in its infancy, and how it is likely to unfold over the
 next few years."
     Scope and Methodology
     This television industry study is comprised of four distinct phases
 that integrated research assets from across The Nielsen Company, as
 coordinated by Nielsen Entertainment and NielsenConnect. They include:
     -- Penetration Analysis:  Internet usage data from Nielsen//NetRatings
        identified the broadband video user universe by Heavy, Moderate and
        Light usage levels both at home and at work.  These data served as the
        study's underlying survey sampling framework, distinguishing it from
        earlier studies conducted in this arena.
 
     -- Live Online Video Digital Lab Sessions.  In phase two, eight live
        Internet-linked group sessions were conducted to explore how different
        video formats and advertising tactics contribute to the long-term
        growth of television and broadband video platforms while minimizing and
        controlling TV audience erosion. Thirty-two consumers participated in
        these sessions, which were conducted by Nielsen Entertainment
        Television Group at the CBS TV City facilities in Las Vegas on November
        29 and 30, 2006.
 
     -- Quantitative Online Segmentation Study.  From December 2006 through
        February 2007, 2,267 online interviews were conducted to gather data on
        primary online video usage via broadband connections in home and work
        environments by Heavy, Moderate and Light users as well as non-video
        users.  Broadband behavioral metrics provided by Nielsen//NetRatings
        were also captured to generate enriched market segment profiles
        typically not possible in consumer survey research settings.
 
     -- Fusion Analysis: Respondent level survey results were linked to
        National People Meter (NPM) television viewing data for January and
        April 2007, using identical household metrics in the segmentation study
        as those employed to capture NPM data by Nielsen Media Research. This
        created a comprehensive benchmark of the programming preferences that
        characterize the six broadband video user segments.
     A Barometer of Broadband Content and Its Users is available on the CTAM
 Web site at http://www.ctam.com/research/form-06-broadband-email.pdf.
     About The Nielsen Company
     The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with
 leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information
 (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), trade shows and
 business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The
 privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with
 headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more
 information, please visit www.nielsen.com.
     About CTAM
     CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, is
 dedicated to helping the cable business grow. As a non-profit professional
 association, CTAM provides marketing education and networking opportunities
 to more than 5,500 members, through conferences, consumer research,
 publications, www.ctam.com, a network of regional chapters, and the CTAM
 Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School. CTAM also
 facilitates unified, national cooperative marketing efforts on behalf of
 its corporate members, such as the Cable Movers Hotline (SM), Business
 Services Initiative, and On Demand Consortium. Consumers can learn about
 cable's advanced services and see offers from their local providers at the
 CTAM-supported www.ThisIsCable.com (SM).
 
 

SOURCE The Nielsen Company