Nielsen Studies Mobile Entertainment

To help size up the two marketplaces, Nielsen Media Research Tuesday will issue separate reports on consumer use of mobile phones for entertainment, as well as video gaming.

“The details revealed in these reports raise actionable items for marketers and developers alike, and the result is clear: ‘Emerging’ media, they are no longer,” Nielsen Entertainment CEO Andy Wing said in a prepared statement. “Games and mobile entertainment have arrived as powerful channels to consumers and influencers of our culture.”

The results of the mobile survey demonstrated that the mobile-entertainment marketplace is poised for exponential growth, according to Nielsen officials.

The highlights of the “Mobile Benchmark Report” included:

• 52% of mobile-phone users will buy new phones within the year, with 37% claiming that additional features will figure prominently in their decisions.

• On average, active mobile-phone consumers spend 17 hours on their phones per week -- 13 on talking and four on data services.

• Young females are on their mobile phones 23.5 hours per week on average, more than the 20.9 hours they reported watching TV.

• One in seven mobile-phone users have no home landline.

• Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics America Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. were cited as the top hardware providers, while Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. were cited as top service providers.

The key findings of the video game report include:

• Many active gamers appeared to be in a holding pattern before making purchase decisions on next-generation consoles.

• 18% of active gamers have downloaded games to their cell phones, with nearly two-thirds rating their experiences from good to excellent.

• Traditional sports is the most preferred game genre, followed by role-playing and first-person shooter.

• Males 25-34 and Hispanics represented the most valuable emerging market for video games, with high entertainment budgets and higher potential than other segments for increased video-game spending.

In each of the “benchmarking” reports, more than 2,000 consumers engaged actively in either video games or mobile services were surveyed online in September.