More U.S. homes are streaming video, but live TV still dominates

Mike Snider | USA TODAY

More than half the homes in ten of the largest U.S. cities have streaming video subscriptions, but live TV continues to grab and hold eyeballs the most, according to a new report out today from Nielsen.

The average time spent watching live television in nine major markets — Atlanta, Detroit and others — surpassed four hours daily, according to Nielsen’s Local Watch report, out today. The TV market included in the report with the lowest daily live TV viewing is San Francisco with two hours and 49 minutes.

African-American homes, on average, watched more live TV -- nearly seven hours daily by those living in Philadelphia, Nielsen found. Hispanic homes watched the least amount of time-shifted TV, as low as 5 minutes daily in Houston.

Meanwhile, time spent watching time-shifted TV ranged from 34 minutes daily (in Baltimore) to 56 minutes (Cleveland) and minutes spent daily on a multimedia device accounted for seven (in St. Louis) to 14 (Baltimore).

“When it comes to time spent, live TV continues to reign supreme," Nielsen says in the report. "Television continues to play a major role in the lives of the American consumer."

That's important for advertisers, as Nielsen expects them to spend more than $500 million next month on advertising for holiday gifts such such as toys, electronics and jewelry.

Nielsen also offered additional looks at local adoption of tech gadgets and content.

-- Smart TVs are in more than one-fourth (26%) of homes in Washington D.C., higher than the 19% U.S. average.

-- Smartphones are in the pockets or purses of nearly 90% of those in Dallas (88%), Portland (87%) and Denver (87%), compared to the national average of 79%.

-- African-Americans (86%) and Hispanics (83%), on average, are more to have a smartphone.

-- More than half of all U.S. homes (55%) have at least one tablet. Cities with the highest penetration: Atlanta (67%), Washington, D.C. (66%) and Boston and New York (each with 63%).

-- Subscription streaming video services -- with Netflix leading the way -- have penetrated 47% of U.S. homes. The our cities with the highest rate of streaming homes: Washington, D.C. and Seattle (both at 56%), and Portland and San Francisco (both at 55%).

-- Overall, Netflix is in 42% of U.S. homes, Amazon Prime in 18% and Hulu 9%. Portland and Washington were the only two cities among the top five in subscribership to all three streaming services.

Nielsen's surveys on TV viewership took place in May 2015, while the smart TV and streaming data was collected in September.

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