Watching TV is Americans’ Favorite Media Activity; Videogames Important to Youth

64% of Americans rank watching TV (on any device) as one of their top-3 media activities, down from a high of 71% in 2009 and 2010 but enough to keep TV viewing as America’s favorite media activity, according to Deloitte. TV is tops for all generations except trailing Millennials (14-23), who prefer personal and social use of the internet as well as listening to music. The survey also reveals that for many trailing and leading (24-29) Millennials, videogames are not only a top activity, but an important advertising influence.

In fact, trailing (39%) and leading (38%) Millennials are almost twice as likely as the average American aged 14 and older to rank videogames as a top-3 media activity. Alongside that penchant for gaming, these consumers are also heavily swayed by advertising on videogames: 41% of trailing Millennials and 38% of leading Millennials agree that advertising on videogames (all forms of games) influence their buying decisions more than any other form of advertising.

Other Findings:

• 28% of respondents reported that their household purchases an online console videogaming service. That figures rises to 55% among trailing Millennials and 43% among leading Millennials.
• The percentage of respondents overall purchasing an online console videogaming service rose by almost 50% year-over-year in 2012, while the proportion buying laptop and/or desktop games subscriptions doubled, from 10% to 20%.
• Roughly 1 in 5 trailing Millennials play online games on a daily or almost daily basis.
• 23% of respondents ranked reading newspapers (either printed or online) as a top-3 media activity, unchanged from 2011, but up from 16% in 2010.
• The percentage ranking magazine reading (either printed or online) as a top-3 activity remained steady at 17%.

About the Data: The Deloitte survey was fielded by an independent research firm from 11/8/2012 to 11/21/2012, employing an online methodology among 2,129 US consumers. All data is weighted back to the most recent census data to give a representative view of what US consumers are doing.