As I sit with my laptop typing out this blog, I occasionally glance up at an episode of my favorite show, NCIS, while taking note of the latest trend in media. Namely that the hours spent watching television by the average person continue to grow. And, by the way, use of the internet is also up. Wait a minute? Didn’t we all predict that the internet would push aside television as the media of choice? Seems like they are coexisting nicely.
AC Nielsen posts a quarterly study of media usage. The study shows that the average number of hours spent watching TV has grown a couple of percentage points to 35 hours per week (that number always surprises me). TV increases are being attributed to higher quality picture, DVR usage, and more channels available. I guess we should not write off TV consumption too soon.
Simultaneous TV / Internet viewing grew to 3:30 hours per week from 2:39 hours (up 35%). It seems that there is likely more than one screen in front of our face at many times of the day.
We are absorbing more media on a daily basis. Whether it be via TV, computer, mobile phone or flat screen of some type, Our day didn’t get longer, our free time didn’t expand, so this increase in media consumption must be at the expense of other activities in our lives. Maybe we are just getting better at multitasking. This increased overall consumption and continuing integration of media within the rest of our lives is the real story.
Oh, pardon me, someone just sent me a text….
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