Nielsen: Internet Hasn’t Hurt TV Viewing

Sorry naysayers, YouTube isn't about to demolish traditional television just yet. Americans spent more time in front of the TV this year than ever before.

If it seems as if the popularity of the Internet and other high-tech forms of entertainment has begun to cut into time spent watching TV, think again: according to Nielsen’s latest findings, Americans watch more TV than ever before.  The results [PDF], released Tuesday, show that time in front of the tube actually ratcheted up four percent for the average American from only a year ago.

To be precise, Americans now take in about 127 hours and 15 minutes worth of TV per month per person, up from 121 hours and 48 minutes in 2007. And other formats aren’t hurting, either. Average time on the Internet leapt nine percent, from 24 hours and 16 minutes a month to 26 hours and 26 minutes a month.  In short, we’re not changing our diets at the entertainment buffet, we’re just going back for seconds and thirds to pack it all in.

Among traditional TV watchers, those aged 65 and older watched the most, while the 35- to 44-year-old age bracket took the cake for Internet use. Those aged 18 to 24 prevailed in a more specific category: watching video on the Internet, living up to the “YouTube generation” moniker.

But in one final bit of startling news for TV broadcasters, the popularity of timeshifting with DVRs (a process that ordinarily cuts out commercials) experienced the biggest growth of all. Though it still represents only a tiny fraction of total TV watched, total hours spent watched DVRed TV rocketed up 56 percent from last year, to 5 hours and 59 minutes.