'Regular' TV watching still strong
March 30, 2009
According to a study released by the Council for Research Excellence and funded by Nielsen, TV watching has not waned in the US despite the emergence of mobile phones, iPods, and Internet media. Researchers followed 476 people for two 14-hours days and recorded how much they used media along with other daily activities.
The research showed that adults between the ages 45 to 54 used the most electronic media, at 9.5 hours a day. Other adults spent an average of 8.5 hours a day. The same group also spent the most time on e-mail, instant messaging, and DVR playback. Despite all the usage of media, only 43 per cent of the TV viewers watched video online, and only for a few minutes a day. Adults 65 and older watched live TV the most at nearly seven hours a day, but rarely used computers or mobile phones.
Their TV usage is double that of young adults ages 18 to 24. Young adults spent the majority of their media time using cell phones and video games, and were the heaviest users of online video at only 5.5 minutes a day.