Nielsen: Americans Watching More TV Than Ever

NEW YORK: Nielsen’s latest Three Screen Report reveals that the average American watches about 153 hours of television at home every month, up from about 150 hours in the first quarter of 2008, including more than 8 hours of time-shifted viewing, a 40-percent increase on the year-ago period.

According to Nielsen, there are 284.6 million Americans watching TV in the home each month, with 79.5 million watching time-shifted TV, up 37-percent on the 57.9 million time-shifted viewers last year.

The data also shows that the 131 million Americans who watch online content view some 3 hours of programming on the Internet each month, up from just under 2 hours a year ago. In addition, the 13.4 million Americans watching mobile content see about 3.5 hours of mobile video each month.

The demo that spends the most time with traditional TV is adults 65-plus, with almost 211 hours. The 25-34 set spends about 144 hours a month, while the 18-24 segment spend almost 117. Teens watch about 104 hours, and kids 2-11 close to 109.  Time-shifted viewing is most prevalent in the 25-34 set at 12 hours, with 35-44 close with 11 hours. The 18-24 group is spending the most time with online shows—5 hours—while teens are partial to mobile content with an average monthly viewing of more than six hours.