More consumers are accessing television and movies online. An estimated 81 million of the 129 million people who access the Internet via a broadband connection watched TV or movies online, according to a new study from Nielsen.
The data was collected via Nielsen’s NetViews and NetRatings services during the month of March. The findings represent a 16 % jump in broadband consumption in six months (from 70 million people in Sept. 2006).
The study was commissioned by The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM).
ABC.com was the top site across all broadband viewer visits to television network Web sites, while Yahoo! Movies was the leader in the movies category.
The study found that broadband viewing does not replace traditional television viewing, giving TV viewing a net audience gain, which is good news for networks. The study also posits (rather obviously) that better navigation interfaces and increased availability of popular television series online will drive even more consumers to broadband.
"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."
