Published Date: 05-30-12

According to a new report covered by USA Today, online entertainment is nudging its way into Americans’ living rooms and “changing the face” of prime time television.

Instead of relying solely on DVR and live television, consumers are also increasingly turning to iPads, tablets, smartphones, and game consoles for a more user-generated viewing experience to watch live sports, network TV, and other programming.

Entertainment providers are offering innovative, diverse mobile viewing options to meet changing prime time viewing habits. This translates to consumers having more and more choices on where, when and how they view entertainment.

The newfangled prime time extends beyond weeknights. To the digital viewer, Saturday night is increasingly a prime viewing time. Those watching aren’t necessarily glued to the 50-inch television in the living room, and if they are, they still often peek at the tablet on their lap.

Video viewing on tablets rises in the morning, tails off midday, then surges again in the evening, according to first-quarter data compiled by Ooyala. On a typical weekday, one-third of tablet video-watching occurs from 7 to 11 p.m., with only about 17% of computer video viewing taking place at that time.

The rise of services such as Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, and MovieClips also means great entertainment is delivered safely, securely, and legally – which benefits both consumers (no risk of scams like with Hunger Games) and the creators and makers of the products we all love, whose hard work and creative property deserve to be protected from online content theft.

Check out the full piece in USA Today.