More than 96% of Wilmington area adults have access to the internet.  Ubiquitous technology such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and connected TVs allow Delaware consumers to go online whenever they choose, which, for some adults, is always.

The Pew Research Center, a public opinion research company, reports that one-in-three consumers say they are online constantly. A 50% increase from 2015.  In total, 85% of consumers say they connect at least one time every day.

So, how are Wilmington consumers spending all this time connected to the internet?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Wilmington consumers each month.

Broadcast television came to Wilmington, Delaware in 1949 when WDEL-TV signed on for the first time. In those days, only about 0.5% of local households actually owned a set, a number that would grow 10-fold by the mid-1950s.

At first, local consumers needed rabbit-ears or outdoor antennas to receive signals from a small handful of Tri-state area stations. The quality of reception varied day-to-day.

By the early 1960s, however, local cable systems began to bring higher-quality, reliable reception to households throughout the Wilmington area. The number of programming options, though, remained limited to affiliates of ABC, NBC, and CBS.

In 1972, viewing options began to expand as local cable began offering Wilmington area consumers the opportunity to purchase premium services, including HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax.  Five years later came an explosion of non-premium cable channels such as TBS and CNN.

In the early 1990s, Wilmington viewers could not only receive their television programming over-the-air or by cable, but options expanded to include satellite delivery by DishTV and DirectTV.

The next TV innovation came in 2007 as Wilmington consumers started turning to the internet to watch streaming channels like Netflix and Hulu.  These new services allowed viewers to watch TV on their phones, computers, and tablets as well as their living room LCD and Plasma screens.

Today, all of this video technology offers viewers the ultimate flexibility to choose how, when, and where to watch TV.  So, what are they watching?

According to Nielsen, 548,000 adults in the Wilmington, Delaware area have access to the internet, equivalent to 96% of the population. On average, local consumers are spending 10.59 hours per week online.

Wilmington millennials, the first generation that grew up in a digital world, spend considerably more time online. Nielsen reports that, on average, Wilmington's 25-39-year-old consumers are clocking 11.56 hours connected to the internet.

So, how are Wilmington consumers spending their time online?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Wilmington consumers each month.

Each week, according to Nielsen, 63.8% of Wilmington, Delaware consumers watch video programs that aren't delivered over-the-air by local TV stations.  They aren't coming from a local cable company or by satellite.  Instead, these programs are being streamed directly to viewers via an internet connection.

This type of streamed video content is called OTT (Over-The-Top-Television) or CTV (Connected-Television). These two terms are sometimes are often used interchangeably but do have a subtle difference.

OTT generally means the video is watched on a small device like a computer, tablet, or smartphone.  CTV, on the other hand, typically means the content is viewed on a smart-TV or a regular television using a streaming device like a Roku or Amazon stick.

In Wilmington, OTT/CTV has exceeded the weekly reach of local newspapers and streaming audio services such as Pandora and Spotify. The medium is rapidly approaching the reach of local cable and broadcast TV stations.

Wilmington, Delaware area business owners are expected to invest $183-million during 2021 to advertise to consumers connected to the internet. This forecast was produced by Borrell Associates, a company that tracks business advertising expenditures across the country.

These online marketing dollars will be spent on banner advertising, search engine marketing, email, as well as audio and video advertising. This is all to capture the attention of shoppers and buyers as they go about their connected days.

According to Nielsen, 95.9% of adult consumers in the Tri-state area have access to the internet. They connect, primarily, with desktop and laptop computers; smartphones; or tablets.

 

Ninety-five percent of Wilmington adults spend at least one hour per week online, with most spending at least 10 hours connected.

Almost 96% of Tri-State area adults have access to the internet, according to Nielsen. Over than 60% of these consumers spend more than five hours a week connected.

Nielsen reports that Wilmington area consumers go online to stay connected to friends and family; research products and services; learn the latest news, and obtain directions to where they are going and know what the weather will be when they get there.  

Here are some of the many reasons why Wilmington internet users go online each month

• Social Media: 81%
• Online Banking: 59%
• Weather: 50%
• Maps/Directions: 50%
• Product Reviews: 48%
• Current Events: 31%
• Restaurant Reviews: 27%
• Sports Scores/News: 25%
• Job Search: 19%
• Real Estate: 12%

And, of course, there is shopping.  Over the past six months, according to Nielsen, 78.7% of Tri-State area consumers shopped online for every imaginable product and service including, cars, golf clubs, office supplies, wedding rings, mattresses, tires, medicine, shoes, socks, and eyeglasses.

To reach local consumers while they are online, Wilmington businesses will spend $183 million for digital advertising in 2020, according to Borrell Associates.  Here is how the money is being spent:

Advertising on Wilmington television and cable is becoming less attractive to local business owners as viewers rapidly defect to alternative video entertainment sources including, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Disney+.

Collectively these streaming services are referred to as Over-The-Top Television (OTT) and Connected-TV (CTV). Viewers can only access this OTT and CTV content via smartphone, tablets, computers, smart-TVs, Amazon Fire Sticks, and Roku Sticks, Nielsen reports that 92.1% of Delaware Valley adults own at least one these devices. Furthermore, they are using them.

According to Nielsen, OTT and CTV networks now reach 42.8% of all Wilmington area consumers every week.