A new report by Nielsen on video game consoles is a must read for anyone working in the media.
Nielsen’s “The State of the Console” report offers a startling insight into the the impact of games.
It found that a console sitting by the TV in more than 45 million homes in the US. The PlayStation or Xbox is eating into TV’s audience.
Nielsen found that people are playing games when they would normally be watching conventional TV programming.
And this is not something confined to young kids. Nielsen points out that “among key console demographic groups, the reach and frequency is quite staggering”.
Men aged between 18 and 34 who play console games averaged 2 hours and 43 minutes per day. This is even more than boys under 11 who play for an average of 2 hours and 30 minutes per usage day.
There is no doubt that game consoles are challenging other forms of media. The arrival of a new generation of more powerful consoles in the shape of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is bound to accelerate this trend.
As LostRemote points out, advertisers who buy airtime on TV are going to take note of the changing habits.
Those in the media industry need to realise that video games are fast becoming the medium of choice for a generation.
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