Money Rail: Almost Half of All Smartphone Users Have Purchased Digital Entertainment Products

American’s have a bad case of Johnny-Five syndrome. So named for the robot in the movie “Short Circuit,” the disorder’s one and only symptom is the intense craving for more digital input. Movies, TV shows, podcasts, webseries, music, ebooks — they can’t get enough.

According to the new Mobile Intel Series report from Millennial Media, 47% of smartphone users have purchased digital entertainment in order to halt the cravings, but sadly, the fix is only temporary. One season of “The Vampire Diaries” isn’t enough. The entire catalog of films starring George Clooney won’t do it. Even the massive collection of free ebooks on Amazon can’t fill that empty feeling a Johnny-Fiver gets once the data has been consumed.

This is good news for all you entertainment content sellers out there.

Entertainment is now the third highest advertising vertical by spend. The category has grown 133% from 2010 to 2011, with theatrical releases responsible for 43% of the ads. TV and cable come in a close second with 30% with DVD releases sitting at 19%.

With movie goers as a primary target, entertainment advertisers rely on video more than any other category by a wide margin. 71% of entertainment ads led to a video. 33% of mobile advertisers included a social media component to encourage sharing. What’s really encouraging? 27% had some kind of m-commerce attached to their ad allowing consumers to buy tickets, DVDs, games and fan items.

Entertainment companies have an advantage when it comes to crafting attention-grabbing ads. Keeping an audience riveted is how they make their living but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to work at it.

Every day we see new and exciting campaigns for the mobile audience. For example, the new Cartoon Network app that lets you watch cartoons while you play a game on the same screen. Holy multiasking! Talk about input! Johnny-Five is indeed alive, in every smartphone user.