Streaming video consumption up on consoles - Nielsen

Consoles have become more than game-playing devices over the past few years. A recent report indicates that while gaming is still the predominant activity on the boxes, streaming video consumption during the first part of 2011 rose compared to the same period of time a year ago.

According to a Nielsen survey, streaming video consumption is up this year across the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. The study, which was conducted in October, covered the first six months of 2011.

Nintendo's console saw the biggest jump during the period, rising to 33 percent of time spent watching streaming video. The Xbox 360 saw a 4 percent year-over-year increase in time spent streaming video, rising to 14 percent this year, while the PS3 jumped from 9 percent to 15 percent.

The report states that usage was up largely due to the wide availability of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, MLB Network, and ESPN3. Nielsen also stated that this increase in streaming video consumption was not completely at the expense of other console activities, as total console use was up 7 percent.

Time spent playing online was also measured in the report, with Xbox 360 online play up over 2010 numbers, but PS3 and Wii seeing declines. Disc-based video consumption was down across supported platforms as well.