There may be something to this TV Everywhere phenomenon.

According to the latest Cross-Platform Report from The Nielsen Co. , US consumer viewing of video on smartphones rose from an average of one hour per month at the end of 2012 to one hour and 23 minutes per month at the end of 2013. At the same time, overall viewing of video on the Internet jumped from an average of five hours and 54 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2012 to seven hours and 34 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Online video numbers are still dwarfed by traditional TV viewing, which, despite slipping slightly in 2013, accounted for an average of 155 hours and 32 minutes of American household time per month in the fall quarter. However, the rate of smartphone and Internet video growth in a single year is still quite noteworthy.

The smartphone trend also mirrors what Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE) found in its recent Q4 Digital Video Benchmark Report. According to Adobe, nearly a third of all TV Everywhere viewing now takes place on smartphones in the US. The percentage rose from 28% in the third quarter of last year to 31% in the fourth. (See Adobe Preps for Sochi Games.)

TV Everywhere is one of a number of key topics that will feature at Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies, March 27, in Denver, Colorado.

Nielsen also found that the numbers of households with digital video recorders, high-definition televisions, video game consoles, and tablets all increased year over year, while the number with DVD or Blu Ray players dropped slightly. The number of HD TV households rose from 89.3 million at the end of 2012 to 97.7 million at the end of 2013. DVR homes jumped from 50.7 million to 54.5 million; households with game consoles rose from 50.6 million to 51.3 million; and homes with tablets increased from 19.7 million to 33.5 million. DVD/Blu Ray households decreased from 95.2 million to just fewer than 95 million.

Consumers also increased their TV time-shifting habits in 2013, Nielsen said. The number of viewers watching time-shifted television rose from 159.7 million to 174 million year over year, while the average time spent watching time-shifted TV jumped from 12 hours and 38 minutes to 14 hours and 40 minutes per month.

— Mari Silbey, special to Light Reading