Subscription-based video on demand programming, or streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime and HBO Go, is now available in half of all U.S. households, according to findings presented in Nielsen’s “Total Audience Report,” which examines American media usage habits and platform penetration trends.
SVOD usage has been rising steadily for the last several years, according to the report, and has now caught up with DVR media penetration in American markets for the first time. According to Nielsen, SVOD programming during 2014’s forth quarter was available in 41 percent of all U.S. households and 46 percent in 2015’s third quarter. Today, that figure has reached 50 percent. DVR usage during this time, by contrast, has remained relatively flat, now averaging about 33 minutes a day in the U.S., the same amount of time as last year, according to Nielsen.
Taken together, 72 percent of Americans now have access to either DVR or SVOD programming, which reveals an increase of five percent from last year. Live television, combined with DVR-enabled TV, now accounts for about 226 million monthly users.
Despite an influx of newer technologies, TV still leads when it comes to overall media consumption. Nielsen said adults aged 18 or over currently spend about 42 percent of their time with live TV, more than any other medium. However, the average daily time U.S. adults now spend with TV — about four-and-half hours — actually reveals a decrease of about one-percent from last year.
Nielsen found the greatest media growth in the last year came from newer technologies: specifically, tablets, to which Americans now dedicate an average of 31 minutes each day (a 63 percent increase from the same time last year) and smartphones, which has seen an average of about an hour and forty minutes of daily use time (a 60 percent year-over-year increase). Nielsen reported that Americans now spend about 30 percent of their time with digital devices, including PCs, smartphone and tablets.
And despite massive growth in newer media sectors, Nielsen also reported that AM/FM radio still reaches the most adult users per month in U.S. (240 million), with the average American spending 17 percent of their time with that medium, according to the report.
Nielsen’s "Total Audience Report" can be downloaded here.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
