TV for the Upwardly Mobile Crowd

From Reuters:

"The report by Nielsen Analytics, a unit of market research firm Nielsen Co., found that Internet broadband "expands the market for programming by offering the potential for watching shows at the office, and in non-traditional locations, such as coffee shops equipped with WiFi connections."

"Video on PCs and iPods actually is expanding the audience for broadcast and cable programs," the study said, citing data that total TV usage was at an all-time high in U.S. households at 8 hours, 14 minutes a day during the 2005-2006 TV season.

"The broadband consumer is really the sweet spot for TV -- younger, more affluent, better educated and tech savvy," Larry Gerbrandt, general manager and senior vice president of Nielsen Analytics, said in an interview.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

"The study concludes that programers have the opportunity to create new revenue models to benefit content owners and their affiliated stations," said study author Larry Gerbrandt, head of Nielsen Analytics. "With broadband streams, for example, fast forwarding through commercials can be disabled making it more likely the consumers will watch the spots and possibly interact with them."

"Ad models can be customized and managed in a broadband environment," Gerbrandt said. "Interactivity can be embedded into the program in such a way as to enhance engagement which does not take viewers away from the enjoyment of the program."

At the same time, the study affirms that viewing video on broadband platforms has not come at the expense of traditional TV watching for many viewers. Household television usage has climbed consistently by more than an hour per day during the past decade, peaking at an average of more than eight hours a day during the 2005-06 TV season."