PC gaming data from Nielsen’s U.S. metering of home and work panelists provides insights on executable file gameplay, or “.exe’s”, that are launched and played from the desktop. A look at the last six months’ worth of 2011 metered data for the top five pre-installed game titles revealed the following insights.

• The total combined average monthly audience (July-Dec 2011) for these titles was 20.3MM
• Overall, 58% of metered gameplay came from females
• Overall, 88% of metered gameplay came from ‘gamers’ aged 25+
• Pinball and Minesweeper were the only games that showed more than a marginal audience under 25, with 31% and 24% of gameplay, respectively, coming from this younger age range
• FreeCell had the largest average monthly audience over the timespan, with close to 9.4MM unique players each month (Solitaire was 2nd with an average monthly audience of 7MM)
• FreeCell, Solitaire and Hearts resonated highest with the 55+ crowd, with over 50% of players for these three games being part of this older demographic

Another interesting dynamic is the amount of time spent and frequency for playing these pre-installed games:

• The card-based games of FreeCell, Solitaire and Hearts had the highest levels of average minutes of weekly play, with over 150 minutes each for FreeCell and Solitaire and just over 70 for Hearts
• FreeCell and Solitaire averaged seven sessions each per week, while Hearts was closer to six
• Taking into account the average audiences for these three card-based games, and factoring in the time spent playing, over 44 million hours of combined monthly play can be attributed to them
• Pinball and Minesweeper both exhibited lower average weekly play in terms of minutes, 26 and 38 respectively, as well as sessions, two and three respectively.

As new tech and devices emerge, it’s easy to assume that older versions of games, or just old games in general, would fall out of favor. However, old habits die hard, and familiarity with programs and games can have a lot to do with the long tail of gameplay. This particular data for pre-installed games skews heavily towards an older demographic, which presents an opportunity for developers/publishers to perhaps find ways to make their free-to-play games as easily accessible and bundled in as possible for this audience. And for advertisers that want to reach this large demographic, it’s an opportunity to work with device manufacturers and operating system publishers to reach this mass audience if/when these pre-installed games tie-in connectivity or become server-based as the norm. An important question remains though – how do you convert or transition these gamers to other versions of these same games or change their habits in how they access them on newer, or more social formats?

Not surprisingly, spot TV was the top choice among all candidates for reaching potential voters, representing nearly 75 percent of all ad units, followed by local/regional cable networks. Rick Santorum’s campaign showed the greatest balance between the two mediums, placing 59 percent of ads on local TV stations and 34 percent on regional cable networks.  President Obama’s team leaned more towards spot TV and placed over 80 percent of ads on those stations.  Ads for Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney saw the largest share of local radio placements among the candidates, 13 percent and 12 percent of total campaign advertisements, respectively.

When looking at ad placements by market, the most targeted was Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson (4,021 advertisements among the five candidates), which spans counties in Georgia, South Carolina and battleground state North Carolina.  Rounding out the top five were Florida markets Miami and Tampa, followed by Columbia, SC and Orlando.

Other findings include:

• Seattle was the only market targeted by all five candidates during Q1 2012.
• Although Newt Gingrich was the winner of the South Carolina primary, his campaign placed the fewest total ad units among the candidates in highly targeted markets Charleston and Columbia.
• The top markets for spot TV placements for Team Obama included North Carolina and Wisconsin, Team Romney focused on several Florida markets and Teams Gingrich, Paul and Santorum advertised heavily on local stations in South Carolina.

The 12-17 demo is proving that they are also game, quite literally, for watching or playing just about anywhere in the home—including basements and garages. More than half (52%) of their time spent with a gaming console happens in either non-traditional spaces or bedrooms while 48 percent is spent gaming in more social environs, such as a living or family room.

When it comes to television, the 12-17 demo is proving that times may change, but teens will be teens, spending nearly the same amount of time viewing TV in bedrooms as they do in family rooms. Overall, teenagers spent 47 percent of their total TV viewing in their bedrooms versus 48 percent in family rooms.

In contrast, the 35-64 demo spends 62 percent of their total TV in a shared space and only 31 percent of their time in the bedroom. Those 65 and older spend the largest chunk of their viewing time (69%) in a family or living room.

While the in-home TV and computer are still the most popular devices to watch video content, usage and growth in online and mobile technologies is making a sustained impact. Three-quarters (74%) of global respondents report watching video via the Internet (on any device), up four points since 2010, and over half of global online consumers (56%) say they watch video on a mobile phone at least once a month and 28 percent at least once a day.

Mobile video is particularly prominent in Asia-Pacific and Middle East/African regions, where 74 and 72 percent of online consumers, respectively, report watching video on mobile phones at least once a month, and almost 40 percent (38% and 37%, respectively) say they do so at least once a day. While mobile video is currently less prominent in North America than in other parts of the world, it is seeing the highest growth rates in mobile phone video consumption. Thirty-eight percent of North American respondents say they watch mobile video once a month, up eight points compared to the 2010 reported results.

“The convenience of mobile connectivity has revolutionized how people are engaging with digital content and each other around the world,” said Dounia Turrill, SVP, Client Insights, Nielsen. “With the growth of smartphones, mobile video consumption is on the rise for entertainment content, particularly in emerging markets where many consumers leapfrog home Internet altogether in favor of the all-in-one smartphone.”

For more, download Global Online Consumers and Multi-Screen Media: Today and Tomorrow

About the report
The Nielsen Global Survey of Multi-Screen Media Usage was conducted in August/September 2011 and polled more than 28,000 consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The sample has quotas based on age and sex for each country based on their Internet users, and is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers and has a maximum margin of error of ±0.6%. This Nielsen survey is based on the behavior of respondents with online access only. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60 percent Internet penetration or 10M online population for survey inclusion. The Nielsen Global Survey was established in 2005.

Now, Nielsen is calling on data visualization enthusiasts from around the world to cast their vote for the Fan Favorite award.

A panel of Nielsen Data Visualization Contest judges scored the entries for innovation and beauty in design and accuracy of interpretation, and has narrowed the field down to a select group of finalists for the Fan Favorite portion of the contest.

“There was great diversity in the interpretation of the data. Some people told a story, some made the data interactive, and others focused on intriguing visuals,” said Ana Mackay-Sim, Nielsen’s Global Creative Director.

(Click image to view full size PDF)

Dustin Poh is currently completing his degree in graphic design, after serving in the U.S. Air Force for four years. He decided to enter the contest to help build his portfolio as he prepares for a career in marketing and design. For him the contest was “a good opportunity to work with real-world data” while building out his portfolio.

“Before I joined the military, design was always something I wanted to do,” Dustin said “I always had an interest, and college has given me the skills.”

When deciding how to tell the story for his entry, Dustin said it “depends on your audience demographic and your content. I spent so many hours reading over it, trying to connect the dots between stories.”

He started his design by looking at the data, mapping out his ideas, bullet-pointing key statistics to include in his story and ultimately deciding an infographic as his presentation medium because “infographics tend to be more content driven.”

As the winner of the Nielsen Data Visualization Contest Judge’s Choice, Dustin will receive $2,000 in American Express Rewards cards and other prizes. The Fan Favorite winner will receive a similar prize package, so be sure to cast your vote here! Public voting will remain open through May 21, 2012 at 5pm ET, so please visit the contest page and vote for your favorites.

Other findings include:

• Spending on cable TV has increased steadily over the last few years, up 42 percent from 2007.
• The average TV commercial in 2011 was 28.4 seconds.
• Spanish-language cable and network TV saw double digit growth in ad spend, up 24 percent and 16 percent, respectively, from 2010.
• Automotive was the largest category for advertising spend across all media, with $10.2 billion spent by automotive brands in 2011, more than twice as much as the second-largest category—quick-service restaurants.
• AT&T and Verizon were the top TV spenders during 2011 for brands AT&T Wireless Web Access ($1.1 billion) and Verizon Wireless Web Access ($702.2 million).

Download all three installments of Nielsen’s State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Report:

• State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Part 3: By Media Type
• State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Part 2: By Demographic
• State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Part 1: Primetime by Genre

TV is Still the Center of Viewing
In the past year, the number of homes with an HDTV grew by more than 8 million to 80.2 million, leaving little doubt that the TV screen remains the dominant platform on which to consume video content. But the means by which the content is delivered appear to be shifting.

Traditional—live and timeshifted—TV viewing remains the primary role of the TV, accounting for more than 33 hours per week despite a decline one half of one percent in time spent compared to Q4 2010. To fill the gap, consumers are finding new ways to use their TVs.

Game Consoles Now in Nearly Half of TV Homes
Consoles have become strategically positioned as a secondary gateway to TV content, and can now be found in 45 percent of TV homes, an increase of three percent over last year. With Netflix and other streaming apps, Blu-ray players, social gaming and point of purchase seamlessly integrated into game consoles, it is no surprise that consumers are relying on their consoles to perform double (and triple) duty. These new activities are adding up and contributing to the growth of content consumption. Interestingly, households without children are leading the way in new game console adoption, demonstrating that game consoles are appealing to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes.

Mobile Viewership Small but Growing
With improving screens, Internet connectivity and the advantage of being “the best screen available” while on the go, smartphones are increasingly becoming portable TVs. In fact, 33.5 million mobile phone owners now watch video on their phones—an increase of 35.7 percent since last year. While mobile phones won’t replace other screens anytime soon, they are part of the ever-increasing number of ways in which consumers consume content.

For more information and insights, download Nielsen’s latest Cross-Platform Report.

Other findings include:

• Teens used a game console for eight minutes a night, on average, during primetime – more than twice as much as the general TV population.
• When watching TV and using their tablet simultaneously, male tablet users were more likely to look up information related to a TV program while females were more likely to up look info related to a TV ad.
• Females spend 61.2 percent of their timeshifted viewing during primetime watching Dramas.
• Online adults aged 25-54 are 23 percent more likely than the average U.S. Internet user to follow a brand via social networking and 29 percent more likely to purchase a product online that was featured on TV.

Download Nielsen’s State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Part 2: By Demographic.

Download State of the Media: Advertising & Audiences Part 1: Primetime by Genre.

Primetime is defined as Monday–Saturday 8pm to 11pm and Sunday 7pm to 11pm.

Social is another platform where Latinos are especially active and rising in numbers.  During February 2012, Hispanics increased their visits to Social Networks/Blogs by 14 percent compared to February 2011.  Not only are Latinos the fastest growing U.S. ethnic group on Facebook and WordPress.com from a year ago, but also Hispanic adults are 25 percent more likely to follow a brand and 18 percent more likely to follow a celebrity than the general online population.

Other digital findings from the report include:

• Hispanic video viewers are 68 percent more likely than non-Hispanic White viewers to watch video on the Internet, and 20 percent more likely to watch video on a mobile phone.

• Hispanics outpace all ethnic groups in mobile downloads of music and pictures.

• Hispanics are less likely to have Internet access at home compared to the U.S. average (62 % and 76%, respectively), but have increased home broadband use by 14 percent over the past year, which is higher than the 6 percent growth of broadband use in the general market.

For more information on Hispanic consumers, download Nielsen’s State of the Hispanic Consumer: The Hispanic Market Imperative report.