Hollywood, Calif. - U.S. consumers who watch network TV shows on the Internet are younger, better educated, more tech-savvy and more affluent than the general population, making them a lucrative target for advertisers, according to a report from Nielsen Analytics and Scarborough Research.

Dispelling fears that offering streaming TV episodes would cut into broadcast viewership and advertising revenues, "video on PCs and iPods actually is expanding the audience of traditional TV programs, supported by the fact that total TV usage was at a record high in U.S. households at 8 hours, 14 minutes a day during the 2005-2006 TV season," the report said.

Among U.S. households with a broadband connection, 34% were in the 18-34 demographic, and 45% are 35-54. Members of these households are four times as likely to be college educated, and 28% have incomes of $100,000 or more.

These factors lead the report to conclude that Internet TV can create new revenue models for content owners.

"Such ad-supported models are uniquely adaptable to the broadband environment and are potentially superior to existing models because they can take full advantage of the digital environment," said Nielsen Analytics general manager and senior vice president Larry Gerbrandt.

"With broadband streams, for example, fast forwarding through commercials can be disabled making it more likely the consumers will watch the spots and possibly interact with them."

Related Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070124/nyw030.html?.v=88
http://tinyurl.com/2xw464 (Reuters)