Game Consoles Eating Away Prime Time TV Viewing

It was bound to happen, was it not? With Netflix flying onto all sorts of unorthodox devices and Internet TV emerging as a legitimate source of entertainment, we just had to see a report like this. Recent statistics from research firm Nielsen have shown that video games (and consoles, naturally) are luring more and more individuals than ever before. And needless to say, it's not just the game software that's enticing.

Despite a global economy that's still trying to fully recover, video game sales have remained relatively healthy. Not surprisingly, so have content consumption patterns. As we saw just weeks ago, YouTube viewing has shot through the roof, and as Nielsen shows, viewing of programming via the traditional method is being eroded by all sorts of new avenues of entertainment. Specifically, the study found that Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 attracted "more engaged users who are less likely to be watching prime time TV that users of other consoles."


While it doesn't go into detail, we have to wonder how many of those console users actually are tuning into TV, just via a different method. There are plenty of hacks and third-party applications out there to bring the likes of Hulu to the game console, and furthermore, we'd argue that the DVR is yet another reason that folks may not have high interests in watching price time television during -- um, prime time hours.


So, what say you? Have your viewing habits changed due to the introduction of consoles and DVRs? Or are those new episodes of Lost simply can't-miss-television?