Nielsen just released its latest Cross-Platform Report for the first quarter in the U.S., and the numbers rolling in are not quite surprising but certainly show a shift in how consumers are getting their content. It’s especially interesting to content producers who want to track where the best platform is to launch their new programming. Back in the day, a broadcast network was the key place to launch. Today, however, there are many more options.
Live TV took a hit, as the report showed that the percentage of people actually watching live TV has dipped by 2 percent over the past year. What is going up is watching content on a DVR, which should come as no surprise. DVR viewing jumped up 8 percent in the past year. But, this could be slightly troubling to advertisers because a lot of their ads are just scanned through. Live TV and DVR viewing were more similar a few years back, but as live TV drops and DVR stored content viewing increases, advertisers will need to find alternate ways to get their messages across. In addition, DVRs have changed in scope as well. The Nielsen study now includes game consoles, a rich source of on-demand content that bypasses a lot of commercial TV as well as advertising. Game console viewing has spiked up as more home systems are using the rich array of HD content available on systems such as Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. 
