Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The current state of the media universe presents a bounty of boundless choice to today’s consumer. Like the cosmos, which is contemplated much in current times, the proliferation of devices and the abundance of media choices is presenting endless options for the consumer and endless challenges and opportunities for the marketer. Nielsen is reaching new frontiers by totaling up audiences across devices and burgeoning viewing platforms. Consumer engagement is reaching new heights.

The data used in this graphic is inclusive of multicultural audiences. Hispanic consumer audiences are composed of both English and Spanish speaking representative populations....

For consumers, having content options is no longer a luxury, but an imperative. And so, too, are the multitude of devices that they use to engage with that content—be it a TV, tablet or soon-to-be emerging technologies.

But having a plethora of content options at our collective fingertips doesn’t necessarily mean consumers are connecting with ALL choices ALL of the time. In fact, according to the second quarter Nielsen Total Audience Report, which focuses on what options consumers have in addition to how they use them, behaviors and usage are unique to the device being used. Consumers still spend most of their time on traditional platforms, but they also look to explore the wide range of content channels made available by new media.

Adults still spend the most time watching TV, as the average adult spends more than four hours each day watching live TV. The average monthly channels available on TV (206) is only a fraction of what’s available on digital apps or websites, so consumers are using more of them. In the second quarter of 2016, consumers visited 55 PC sites and used 28 smartphone apps, compared to 20 TV channels viewed. Even though Americans have fewer channels to choose from than they did last year, the percentage of channels they actually view has remained consistent at 9.6% year over year from 2015-2016....