Report: Video Streaming On Consoles Increases In 2011

A new survey of console owners reveals that time spent using video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu on game consoles has increased across the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. The Nielsen report, based on a sample of 3,000 U.S. console owners age 13 and up, showed that the percentage of time spent using video streaming and on-demand services across all consoles increased year-over-year, with usage rising by 4, 6, and 13 percent on Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii, respectively. Nielsen attributes this growth to the increased availability of services such as Netflix, Hulu, ESPN3, and MLB Network, all of which have increasingly made consoles a destination for multimedia entertainment, not just games. In addition, the report revealed that overall time spent on the three consoles increased 7 percent year-over-year, which is in-part thanks to the increased use of streaming video services. Earlier this year, Nielsen reported that half of existing Netflix subscribers stream content through a game console, with half of them using a Wii as their console of choice. Image credit: Nielsen