Younger Viewers Work Harder To Catch Up On Their Favorite Shows, Nielsen Says

December 4, 2007- New York City- Younger adult viewers are two-and-a-half times more likely than older viewers to be technologically proactive in catching up on television shows they missed, a new study by The Nielsen Company indicated today.  The same study reported that more than half of older viewers will do nothing or wait for reruns if they miss an episode. (For all tables referenced in this release, please refer to Full PDF Download of release).

The study, conducted by Nielsen in October, 2007 with more than 1,500 adults at the CBS Television City research facility in Las Vegas, shows that 56% of 18-34 year old adults use new technologies such as Digital Video Recorders, the Internet, Video on Demand and MP3 players to follow their favorite series, compared to 21% for viewers over age 55. (See table 1)

“Younger viewers have been faster than older generations to adopt new television options, but since technology adoption is increasing within all age groups, this study gives us a glimpse into a future when all viewers will take more initiative to catch up on shows they have missed,” said Steve McGowan, Nielsen Senior Vice President, Client Research Initiatives. “This will have tremendous implications on how networks schedule and distribute their programming.”

The study also found that, when they did go online to watch streaming television over the Internet, more viewers (50%) reported going to ABC.com than any other site.  The next most popular sites were NBC.com and CBS.com, at 41% and 37%, respectively. (See table 2)

Among the other highlights from the full study:

• Among all respondents, findings were fairly similar among men and women, as well as by income.  However, a slight larger proportion of men (32%) relied upon the DVR to stay current (27% for women).

• DVR ownership is second only to age in how aggressive respondents are to staying current with their favorite shows.  Nearly 60% of all DVR owners use the device to stay current. (Note:  DVR penetration among the Vegas respondents was more than twice as large as in Nielsen’s national TV panel, 46% to 20%). 

• The single largest factor that drove awareness of Internet-based streaming alternatives was not high-speed Internet access at home, but whether the respondents had loaded iTunes on their home PCs.

• 25% of respondents said they had watched a full-length episode streamed online in the past three months, led by 18-34 year olds (39%).  Only 11% of older (55+) respondents said they had done so.

• Respondents were more likely to network websites to watch full episodes, even if they had iTunes on their computer.

(Please refer to "Table 1: When you miss an episode how do you get caught up (favorite broadcast series)?" and "Table 2: When You Watch Full Episodes Streamed on the Internet, What Sites Do You Go To?" in Full PDF Download of release).

For more details about this study, please go to http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/nmr_static/docs/Series_Loyalty_for_website.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), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), 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.

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