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It looks like consumers are spending more time watching video, but some media platforms are gaining larger market share gains than others. According to The Wall Street Journal, Nielsen looked at how much time people spent looking at video on TVs and other devices. "The biggest jumps came in the number of viewers watching video on mobile devices and 'time-shifted' television, that is, programming viewed with a digital-video recorder."
The trend is probably very good news for Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T), which are seeing the growth of their cellular businesses slow. The saturation of handsets in the U.S. coupled with the recession are cutting into the pace at which both firms are adding subscribers.
So, is there more money to be made in the cellular services business? The telecom companies say "yes." They say that the future improvement in their sales will be due to use of handsets to transfer data and watch video services, some of which will be paid by the customer, either through subscriptions or advertising.
The prices of telecom stocks are capped now. Their landline businesses are doing poorly. Their attempts to compete with cable TV are capital intensive. And some analysts say their cellular operations have seen their best days. Maybe not. Especially if the handset becomes the new TV.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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