U.S. mobile video viewers grow to 13.4 million in Q1

The 13.4 million Americans who watched video on their mobile handsets in the first quarter of 2009 viewed an average of 3.5 hours of content each month, according to Nielsen's quarterly Three Screen Report. Nielsen reports mobile video viewer totals grew from 11.2 million in Q4 and from 8.8 million in the first quarter of 2008 (a 52 percent year-over-year increase)--however, average mobile viewing time per month slipped quarter-over-quarter, dropping from 3 hours and 42 minutes in Q4 to 3 hours and 37 minutes in Q1 2009. The most viewed categories: Comedy and weather.

Nielsen reports subscribers between the ages of 25 and 34 account for 34 percent of the mobile video viewing audience, followed by viewers ages 35 to 44 (20 percent) and teens ages 12 to 17 (18 percent). Men represent 59 percent of the mobile audience.

Television viewing continues to grow across all three screens, Nielsen notes. As of Q1 2009, the average American watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home, a 1.2 percent increase from last year, and the 131 million Americans who watch video on the web view about three hours of video online each month at home and work. Nielsen credits the first-quarter growth to both strong brand marketing and large media events including the Presidential inauguration [1], the Super Bowl [2] and March Madness [3].

For more on Nielsen's Q1 Three Screen Report:
- read this blog entry [4]