In their latest Cross Platform Report, they found that simply isn’t the case anymore.

A subset of consumers from television and Internet homes has now emerged that defies that notion, with the lightest traditional television users streaming significantly more Internet video, and the heaviest streamers under-indexing for traditional TV viewership.

This behavior is led by those ages 18-34. The group of consumers exhibiting this behavior is significant but small. More than a third of the TV/Internet population is not streaming, whereas less than 1% are not watching TV.

This means that nowadays, if you are heavy into streaming, you most likely aren’t turning on the cable. Here’s a visual demonstration of this:

And the next graph shows that the tendency is more pronounced in people aged 18-34. Makes sense, since that is the generation that has grown up on Netflix and YouTube.

This is interesting news, and unsettling news I’m sure for TV executives and cable providers. Among a set of people (the heavy online video connoisseurs), albeit a small set, they are satisfying themselves almost exclusively with streaming video. Is it only a matter of time until it is not just the heavy internet users who are watching traditional TV less and less?

As of right now, however, it looks like Americans simply love any type of video you put in their faces. According to Nielsen, overall TV watching increased 22 minutes per person per month year-over-year. Nine out of ten households with TVs have cable service. DVR usage continues to grow and even mobile video has increased 41% year-over-year.

Will internet video ever completely knock the crown off Television? Let us know what you think.

Nielsen polled more than 27,000 consumers in 54 countries to determine attitudes about paying for online content and to gauge what types of content consumers were most likely to support financially.

More than half (57%) of global consumers are willing to pay for professionally produced content such as music and movies, while 50 percent are willing to pay for current Tv shows.

Only 20 percent of consumers are willing to pay for blogs and less than a quarter (24%) would pay for user-generated video content. Nielsen found consumers are more likely to spend money on what they currently pay for, instead of what they already receive for free.

Nearly half of global respondents indicated they would be open to more ads to support free content, but that varies by market. For example, 57 percent of respondents in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan are more open to advertising, while just 40 percent in North America and 39 percent in Europe feel the same way.

Related Articles:

> Nielsen Also Puts Bing Up In November

> November Online Video Trends A Mixed Bag

> Online Video Viewing Continues To Boom

The OPA has released a four-year study of its Internet Activity Index (IAI), a monthly guide of the time being spent with ecommerce, communications, content and search.

"When the OPA created the IAI, our goal was to provide a reliable, ongoing measure of the time being spent with key online activities," said OPA president Pam Horan. "For the last four years, the IAI has identified important trends in Web use and added to our understanding of consumer engagement online."

"As seen by Nielsen//NetRatings’ recent introduction of the ‘Total Minutes’ metric, time spent helps to define engagement and serves as a valuable supplement to other key measures."

Communications accounted for 46 percent of users time online in 2003. Consumers now spend 47 percent of their time with content, compared with 34 percent four years ago. The 37 percent gain in share for content is trailed by a 35 percent gain for search. Total time spent with search is still fairly low, accounting for 5 percent of Internet users online time in 2007.

The IAI has identified a very significant and sustained trend in where consumers are spending their online time," Horan said. "The index indicates that, over the last four years, the primary role of the Internet has shifted from communications to content."

 The OPA points out other factors behind the changes in time spent online including faster Internet speeds, the popularity of online video and improvements in search.