More Kiwis Accessing Broadband Than Dial-Up

The Nielsen Company: Internet Revolution In Full Swing With More Kiwis Accessing Broadband Than Dial-Up For First Time

Social networking & blogging experience significant growth

August, 18, 2008, Auckland, New Zealand: The 2008 Broadband Report by The Nielsen Company has found that for the first time, more New Zealanders are accessing the internet via broadband (54%) than dial-up.

The increase in broadband usage has been matched by significant improvements in coverage across the country. Penetration has increased particularly in regions such as Tasman, Nelson and the West Coast of the South Island.

Commenting on the report, Tony Boyte, Senior Analyst, Nielsen Online, New Zealand, said: “We are witnessing a revolution in the way local consumers - and those across the globe - interact, communicate, create and nurture personal and professional relationships; express and publish their opinions and thoughts; create and distribute content for, and to one another, and entertain themselves.

“This has largely come about through the tools that the online medium offers ‘everyday
consumers’from the luxury of their home, office or any other location in which an internet connection is available,” he said. “This practice of everyday citizens being able to digitally publish and distribute all forms of content to friends, family and any other interested parties has come to be known and referred to broadly as ‘Consumer Generated Media’ or simply, CGM.”

CGM is also accurately referred to as User Generated Content.

The 2008 Broadband Report also contains Nielsen Online’s comprehensive study of ‘CGM’ which set out to quantify the number of local participants participating in the category; ascertain levels of anticipated growth; break down and explore the category’s component parts (such as blogging, social networking, word of mouth referral and content sharing and upload); explore the motivations and barriers to uptake and service loyalty; and finally, to address the means by which organisations can tap into the opportunities presented by this exploding trend in consumer behaviour and mindset.

The study identified significant ongoing yearly growth among several CGM-related activities, notably:

• Video upload to grow by (80%) during the next 12 months to reach (43%) of the
• online population.
• Blog creation to increase by (65%) to reach (28%).
• Online profile creation will increase more gradually, but will top (50%) of online
population within one year.

Social networking is experiencing phenomenal growth both here and in Australia. The report charted the visitation patterns of online Kiwis and their trans-Tasman cousins. Nearly half (48%) of online Australians have visited MySpace, while the same proportion of New Zealanders have visited Bebo. The most popular social networking site in New Zealand for the respondent’s “main online profile” is Bebo, followed by Facebook and Old Friends.

For the year ending 2007, approximately 3.1 million (85.6%) New Zealanders aged 10+ had access to the internet. In-home connections continue to increase each year. In December 2007 approximately 2.6 million (72%) access the internet from home. This compares with just (6%) a decade ago.

Of users aged 14 +, (62%) have used the internet for browsing other internet user profiles in the past 12 months while (45%) have created profiles and a further (48%) have joined friend finder sites. Half of all users (50%) are now reading blogs while (17%) are creating them.

Nearly( 80%) are sharing photos; (61%) are uploading photos; (59%) share links; (39%) share videos; (31%) upload music and (24%) upload video content.

Word of mouth is becoming an increasingly valuable recommendation tool with (64%) of users reading consumer reviews; (55%) rating something or someone and (31%) submitting reviews.

This translates to around*

• Just over 2 million sharing photos and just over 1 million sharing video
• 1.7 million reading consumer reviews online
• 1.6 million consumers involved in social networking
• 1.3 million reading blogs and 451,000 created a blog
• 822,000 submitting product reviews online
• 822,000 uploading music and 637,000 uploading video

*estimates based on the New Zealand online universe aged 14+ of 2.652 million as of January
2008 (source: Nielsen Media National Readership Survey – Quarter 4 2007)

For more information, please contact: Stuart Jamieson, Executive Director Nielsen Media Research on +64 970 4157, or Tony Boyte, Senior Analyst Nielsen Online on +64 9970 4143.

About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

About Nielsen Media Research in Asia Pacific
Nielsen Media Research and partners monitor advertising across 12 key markets in the Asia Pacific region: South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

About Nielsen Online
Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, delivers comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumer behavior, and includes products previously marketed under the Nielsen//NetRatings and Nielsen BuzzMetrics brands. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen Online enables clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet, digital and marketing strategies. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-online.com.

About Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research is active in 40 countries worldwide, offering audience measurement, print readership and customized media research services. Nielsen Media Research also provides competitive advertising intelligence in 31 markets worldwide and through affiliates; coverage is extended to more than 70 countries, representing 85 percent of the world’s advertising spending.

ENDS

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