The percentage of Americans who are heavy On-Demand media users has increased from 11% in January 2005 to 21% in January 2006 according to a new study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research.

Internet and Multimedia 2006: On-Demand Media Explodes examines this dramatic increase in On-Demand media usage. In 2005, Arbitron and Edison explored a variety of behaviors, combined with digital device ownership, that define a heavy preference for consuming media On-Demand. This year's study reveals a dramatic increase in the number of Americans age 12+ who engage in multiple On-Demand behaviors such as watching VOD or listening to online radio, and/or own one or more On-Demand media devices such as a portable digital audio and video player (e.g. iPod) or a digital video recorder (e.g. TiVo).

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Key findings from the survey include:

· 18% of Americans own or use a DVR, giving them the ability to record TV programming digitally to watch at their leisure, to pause live TV and to skip through commercials.

· Topping the list of nontraditional ways people have watched TV programming is buying or renting TV series on DVD (27%) and watching TV programs through Video On Demand (23%). In addition, 10% have watched TV programming streamed over the Internet, 5% have downloaded episodes (such as from the Apple iTunes store), and 4% have watched TV clips on a cell phone.

· Portable MP3 player ownership (iPod and other branded players) has grown rapidly from 14% in 2005 to 22% in 2006; among 12- to 17-year-olds, ownership increased from 27% to 42%.

· Households with broadband Internet access now significantly outnumber those with dial-up access. Fifty-eight% of those who have Internet access at home use either a cable or DSL modem for a high-speed Internet connection, compared to 38% who use a dial-up service.

· Nearly one in five Americans have watched video over the Internet in the last month. Nineteen% of Americans have viewed Internet video in the last month; 12% have done so in the last week.

· Given a choice between never using the Internet or never watching TV, four in 10 would choose to keep the Internet and eliminate television.

· The study also includes highlights from the Arbitron/Edison study, "The Infinite Dial: Radio's Digital Platforms," released in April. The "The Infinite Dial" revealed that 21% of the U.S. population age 12+ listened to Internet radio in the past month.