Nielsen: Americans Watching Less Live TV

NEW YORK: In the second quarter of 2012, Americans spent more than 34 hours per week in front of a TV set, though a growing amount of what is being watched is delivered by Internet connection, according to Nielsen’s latest Cross Platform Report.

In Q2 2012, Americans watched an average of 4 hours 18 minutes (4:18) of live television per day, 22 minutes of DVR playback, 12 minutes of videos games and 10 minutes of DVD playback. This compares with Q2 2011 when 4:23 was spent with live TV, and 20 minutes with DVR, 12 minutes with DVD and 12 minutes with video games.

Americans added another 5 hours in front of the computer screen in Q2 2012 as well, using the Internet or watching video content.

Close to 40 percent of Americans say they now use their tablets and smartphones while watching TV at least once a day. As many as twice that amount of people do it at least once a month.

Another key part of Nielsen’s research looked at Netflix and non-Netflix users. Both groups spent an average of 5:20 watching various content. The difference though is in how they watch it. Non-Netflix users spent 276 minutes with the TV, 26 minutes with video game consoles, 14 minutes with DVD/Blu-ray playback and 4 minutes with all streaming content. Netflix users spent 246 minutes with the TV, 41 minutes with video game consoles, 22 minutes with DVD/Blu-ray playback and 12 minutes with all streaming content.