Downloading TV programs, watching online videos and making online phone calls posted the biggest year-to-year percent increase among adult Internet users, according to new data from Mediamark Research & Intelligence.

E-mail, news gathering and paying bills online continue to be among the most widely used Internet activities by U.S. consumers ages 18+, the MRI data show.

According to responses from MRI's just released Fall 2008 Survey of the American Consumer, 3.2% of adults said they had downloaded a TV program in the last 30 days. That represents a year-to-year increase of 141.4%. The number of adults who reported they watched online video increased 35.4% during the same period, to a total of 23.3% of the adult population, while 4.0% of respondents reported they had made an online phone call, an increase of 32.0%.

The Internet activities engaged in by the greatest number of adults were use of e-mail (74.2%), obtaining news (46%) and paying bills online (39.6%). These have been popular online activities among adults for several years.

MRI began measuring Internet activities in 1997 and continually adds new Internet behavior questions to its survey. The fall 2008 data include four new Internet activities: sharing photos (done by one in four adults in the last 30 days); sending electronic greeting cards (9% of adults); watching a live TV program online (5.3% of the U.S. adult population); and uploading or adding video to a Web site (4.1% of adults).

                             Internet Activities
                   U.S. Adults with Access to the Internet

    Which, if any, of these activities             %                %
     did you do on the Internet in the         All Adults      Change From
     last 30 days?                              Fall 2008       Fall 2007
    Used E-mail                                    74.2            +5.2
    Obtained the Latest News/Current Events        46.0            +9.8
    Paid Bills Online                              39.6           +15.3
    Made a Purchase for Personal Use               37.2            +7.8
    Used Instant Messenger                         29.7           +23.6
    Obtained Financial Information                 28.3            +9.6
    Obtained Sports News/Information               28.1           +10.6
    Shared Photos Through Internet Website         25.4             N/A
    Looked for Recipes                             24.8           +24.8
    Played Games Online                            24.6            +8.0
    Watched Online Video                           23.3           +35.4
    Downloaded Music                               21.6            +9.6
    Made Personal or Business Travel Plans         20.5            +3.6
    Obtained Medical Information                   19.9            +4.3
    Looked up Movie Listings or Show Times         19.7           +16.8
    Visited a TV network's or TV show's website    18.7           +15.4
    Looked for Employment                          15.3           +23.6
    Tracked Investments/Traded Stocks,
     Bonds or Mutual Funds                         13.2           +14.7
    Listened to Radio on the Internet              13.1           +10.4
    Obtained Information about Real Estate         12.9            +5.4
    Made a Purchase for Business Use               11.4            +3.4
    Visited Online Blogs                           11.0           +17.9
    Obtained Information for a New Car Purchase    10.6          No change
    Sent an Electronic Greeting Card                9.0             N/A
    Looked at TV Listing Online                     7.7            +5.9
    Obtained Childcare or Parenting Information     5.3           +12.7
    Watched A Live TV Program                       5.3             N/A
    Wrote an Online Blog                            4.3           +16.3
    Uploaded or Added Video to a Website            4.1             N/A
    Made a Phone Call Online                        4.0           +32.0
    Downloaded a Podcast                            3.8           +22.1
    Downloaded a TV Program                         3.2          +141.4


    Source: MRI's Fall 2008 and Fall 2007 Survey of the American Consumer
                 N/A=New MRI Question; Not asked in Fall '07
    Field Dates for MRI's Fall 2008 survey: September 2007 to October 2008

Note: During the personal interview, MRI asks readers of individual magazines if, as a result of reading that magazine, they visited the magazine's website. That data are not included in this general Internet Activities data