Nielsen’s “Three Screen Report” says in the first quarter of this year 13,419,000 Americans (see below) watched 3.37 hours of videos per month on their cellular phones.
Significantly more Americans watched in the first quarter of this year than in the fourth quarter of 2008, when 11,198,000 people watched cellphone videos, the report says. In the first quarter of this year people spent slightly less time watching cellular phone videos compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 when they watched 3.42 hours per months (see below).
Although many more people are watching videos on the Internet — 131,102,000 in the first quarter of 2009, compared to watching on phones — they spent less time watching Internet videos — three hours per month — compared to the time spent watching on phones.
Still early days
Nielsen says, “Much of this growth continues to come from increased mobile content and the rise of the mobile web as a viewing option.” I see cellular operators indeed wanting to increase the number of people who subscribe to mobile TV and mobile video packages, but it’s still somewhat of a hodge-podge of services.
I believe the cellular industry as well as subscribers are still trying to “wrap their heads around” the concept of viewing videos and, especially, live TV, on cellular phones.
It’s not just that all the pieces have to come together in the right mix — handsets, pricing, content, performance, etc. — but also that consumers need to get accustomed to the idea of mobile TV.
Regular TV remains king
The number of Americans and the time they spent viewing videos on cellular phones pales, however, in comparison to watching regular television. Nielsen reports that in the first quarter of this year 284,574,000 people watched 153.27 hours per month of TV in the home.
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