Mobile video viewers stay close to home, study finds

New Nielsen research commissioned by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) may soothe a cable TV industry concerned about how mobile video applications ultimately will affect their business models.

Nielsen reports that most usage of video apps on mobile devices such as smartphones, iPod Touches and iPads actually is occurring in the home, rather than when users are on the go. Viewership of video apps on all three types of devices while in the home was higher--anywhere from 74 to 78 percent of users--than for other locations, such as in the car, in the office or aboard public transportation.

The industry may feel generally cheered that viewers aren't leaving their homes or moving too far away from their TVs just yet, but these viewing habits also could reflect the nature of the limitations of some of these apps. For example, some iPad TV viewing apps only allow viewing to occur on the home network.

And, what does this say about mobile video viewers--are they still couch potatoes, perhaps just too lazy to look for the lost TV remote?

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