A survey of 10,000 US consumers conducted by the Temkin Group finds that Americans are holding steady in terms of their TV consumption and non-work-related internet use, but are spending more time with other activities such as reading books and accessing the internet via a mobile device. At 3.9 hours daily, TV viewing remains the most time-consuming media activity, followed closely by going on the internet with a computer, not for work, at 3.8 hours. Both are unchanged from last year.
In the next tier of media usage – at roughly 2 hours per day – are listening to the radio and going online for work. Radio consumption was up 0.1 hours this year to 2.1, while online access for work slipped 0.1 hours to 2 hours per day.
Following those activities, Americans are spending more time:
- reading books on paper (up 0.1 to 1.4 hours);
- reading the news online (up 0.2 to 1.4 hours);
- using an application or going online with a mobile phone (up 0.2 hours to 1.4 hours);
- reading a newspaper on paper (up 0.1 to 1.1 hours); and
- reading a book online (up 0.1 to 0.9 hours).
The survey also turns up some other interesting stats. For example, the results show that 65-74-year-olds watch the most TV (4.2 hours per day), while 18-24-year-olds watch the least (3.6 hours), a finding supported by research from Nielsen. Other TV-related findings include: African-Americans spending the most time watching on a daily basis (also aligning with Nielsen findings); consumers with less than $25,000 per year income spending 1.1 hours more per day watching TV than those making $100,000 or more (4.5 vs. 3.4 hours); and TV consumption decreasing alongside increasing education levels.
Other Findings:
- 95% of respondents go online at home, and 60% spend at least 3 hours per day doing so.
- 57% go online using their mobile phone, and 16% do so for at least 3 hours daily.
- Respondents earning at least $75,000 are far more likely than those earning less than $25,000 a year to go online using their mobile phone (60% vs. 39%).
- Each age group spends more time reading books offline than online, but the gap is narrowest among younger consumers.
- Asians spend twice as much time reading books online as Caucasians do.
About the Data: The data is based on a survey conducted in January 2013. The results were compared to data collected in January 2012.