Arbitron Recognizes Growth for On-Demand

Arbitron's "Internet and Multimedia 2006: On-Demand Media Explodes," found that 51 million Americans have a "heavy preference" for on-demand consumption versus 27 million a year ago. The report reveals a tremendous increase in the number of Americans, age 12 and older, who engage in multiple On-Demand services including watching Video On Demand (VOD), listening to online radio, and/or own one or more On-Demand media devices such as a portable digital audio and video player (e.g. iPod®) or a digital video recorder (e.g. TiVo®).

Key Highlights:

• Eighteen percent of Americans own or use a digital video recorder.
• People are watching TV through nontraditional ways like buying or renting TV series on DVD (27%) or Video On Demand (23%), streamed TV programming over the Internet (10%), downloaded episodes from sites like iTunes (5%), and TV clips on a cell phone (4%).
• Ownership of MP3 players has grown from 14% in 2005 to 22% in 2006 with 12 to 17 year-olds contributing to most of the ownership growth from 27% last year to 42% this year.
• Fifty-eight percent of those who have Internet access at home use either a cable or DSL modem, compared to 38% who use a dial-up service.
• Nineteen percent of Americans have viewed Internet video in the last month and 12% have watched Internet video in the last week.
• Given a choice between never using the Internet or never watching TV, 4 in 10 would choose to keep the Internet and eliminate television.
• Twenty-one percent of Americans age 12 and older listened to Internet radio in the past month.

Although I don't watch Internet video nor use a DVR, I can definitely see myself in Arbitron's findings.

I recently switched from dial-up to broadband access via cable modem to sign up with Vonage, download podcasts, and go wireless. I've switched from listening to free radio and CD's to listening to music over the internet, my iPod and Sirius Satellite Radio. I'm still at TV fan, but if I had to make the choice between Internet or TV, I'd probably choose the Internet because it can do so much more than a TV.

One area the study didn't cover and wish it had, is satellite radio. I know subscriptions are growing, at least with Sirius, and I think it's got lots potential for future growth.

Filed In: Arbitron On-Demand MP3 Internet TV Radio