91 Percent of Consumers Pay for Cable, Satellite or Telephone Company-Provided TV Service in Q1 2011

New York, NY (June 15, 2011) – Americans are spending more time watching video on traditional TVs, mobile devices and the Internet than ever before, Nielsen reveals today in its new Cross-Platform Report.  Nielsen’s Cross-Platform Report is a new quarterly publication highlighting the video viewing behavior of U.S. consumers across platforms, as well as device penetration, TV content delivery methods and viewing habits by age, ethnicity and gender.

Key findings and emerging trends in media consumption shared in the Cross-Platform Report for Q1 2011 include:

• Overall traditional TV, mobile video and online video viewership increased over Q1 2010. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. homes have an HDTV.
• Americans are consistently willing to pay for high-quality TV content.  The number of households paying for TV content subscriptions (cable, satellite, telephone company) held steady over the past year.
• Asians watch less traditional TV than the general population—more than a third less than Whites and half as much as African Americans—but more Internet video. African Americans watch the most video content across traditional TV and mobile. Hispanic mobile subscribers are the most likely to have a smartphone and the most likely to opt for satellite TV.
• Previously, Nielsen has seen that the heaviest media consumers watch the most video across all platforms. Nielsen has now identified a new subset that bucks that trend.  Led by those ages 18-34, new data finds that the heaviest at-home streamers are now found to watch less traditional TV than the general population, and the lightest TV watchers stream more.

“With traditional TV representing a $70 billion-plus advertising market, it’s no surprise that other content players want to get in the game and established players continue to innovate across platforms. Though we’re seeing strong growth for mobile and Internet video, traditional TV remains dominant.  Each month, U.S. consumers spent nearly 159 hours viewing TV in their homes, 4 ½ hours viewing Internet video on their computer, and more than 4 hours watching video on their mobile devices,” said Matt O’Grady, Executive Vice President, Media Audience Measurement, Nielsen. “The good news for both media companies and advertisers is that it’s clear consumers are willing to pay for high quality content.”

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.