Media Use Statistics   Resources on media habits of children, youth and adults



Preferring the Web to Watching TV
-
For children ages 10 to 14 who use the Internet, the computer is a bigger draw than the TV set,
according to a study recently released by DoubleClick Performics
- 83 percent of Internet users in that age bracket spent an hour or more online a day,
but only 68 percent devoted that much time to television.

-
While 72 percent of the children online belonged to a social networking site (usually MySpace),
60 percent of them said they rarely or never read blogs. (Source)

Up To Age 11, Most Kids Aren't Heavy Internet Users
-While the "vast majority" of 6- to-11-year-olds use the Net, 55% of 9- to-11-year-old boys and
46% of girls in the same age group report using the Internet for less than an hour, or not at all, during the past week.

-
While TV's attraction for kids is certainly being diluted by other media, more than 40% of 9- to-11-year-olds watch
two or more hours of television on school days. Furthermore, half of the 10 Web sites most popular among 6- to-11-year-olds
are sites directly related to television networks.
-
About 80% of younger kids and 90% of older kids use computers at school, and 75% of younger kids and 85% of older kids
use computers at home. One in four girls and one in five boys in the 9- to-11-year-old age group have a computer in their room.
Kids are most likely to spend their time on computers playing games.
 (Source)



Pew Study: TV Remains Top Source of News (August 2008)
 

Pew found that the largest group of news consumers — 46 percent of those polled — have a "heavy reliance"
on television for their news at all times of the day. This group is the oldest, with a median age of 52, and least
affluent, with 43 percent unemployed. They are unlikely to own a computer or go online for news.

Overall, among those who get some of their news from TV, fewer are watching the 6:30 broadcast network newscasts,
and instead opting for cable news sources such as CNN or Fox News Channel. CNN's audience is now majority Democratic,
while 39 percent of Fox News viewers are Republicans, 33 percent Democrats, with the remainder independent or didn't specify.

The group that relies most on the Internet for news is the youngest at a median age of 35. It is also the smallest,
at 13 percent of those polled. Fewer than half of them watch television news on a regular basis. Eighty percent of this
group has a college education and they are twice as likely to read an online newspaper than a printed version.

The emergence of this group and the shift among integrators online led to an overall decline in the percentage of people
who said they read a newspaper the day before, to 34 percent from 40 percent two years ago, the researchers found.
That is also reflected in a shift in the industry that has seen circulation figures slip in recent quarters.
(Source: News Story/Link to full Pew Study)



Web Searching Rises

The percentage of Internet users who use search engines on a typical day has soared from about one-third of all users in 2002,
to a new high of just under one half (49%), according to the latest study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
 

Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of internet users who search on a typical day grew 69% from
January 2002 to May 2008. During the same six-year time period, the use of email on a typical day rose from 52% to 60%, for a growth rate of just 15%.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project concluded that these new figures propel search further out of the pack, well ahead of other popular
internet activities, such as checking the news (39%) or checking the weather (30%) on a typical day. (Source/link to Pew study)


Half of Adults Text, Blog, Use Other Social Media


US TV viewers' average age hits 50

According to a study released by Magna Global's Steve Sternberg, the five broadcast nets' average live
median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. For the just-completed
2007-08 TV season, CBS was oldest in live viewing with a median age of 54. ABC clocked in at 50, followed
by NBC (49), Fox (44), CW (34) and Univision (34). (Source: Variety)
 


US Broadband Study
According to Pew’s most recent study, (July 2008) over half (55%) of all Americans now have a high-speed Internet connection at home, up from 47% a year ago.
(Source)


Media Habits of African Americans
An estimated 68% of black Americans are online, compared to 71% of all Americans, according to a survey
from Radio One and research firm Yankelovich. Looking at blacks' media usage, 84% of housholds have cable
and 87% listen to the radio in a given week. On TV, 64% watch news or newsmagazines, 50% watch court
shows, 46% watch entertainment shows, and 41% watch sports. Eighty-one percent watch black TV channels,
but about 50% of those surveyed said they do not relate to the way black people are portrayed on black-focused TV shows.
(Source)


Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2007 details media uses

35% of students watched television 3 or more hours per day on an average school day (see table). 
This is down from 43% in 1999.

25% of students used a computer for something that was not school work for 3 or more hours per
day on an average school day (see table).  This is up slightly from 22% in 2003. (Source)


Americans Consuming More Video Content
The (Multiplatform Video Report released by Solutions Research Group) study found that an average
American consumer aged 12 and older with Internet access now spends 6.1 hours daily with video-based
entertainment, up from 4.6 in 1996. Of this 6.1 hours, 63.9% (nearly 4 hours per day) currently comes from
traditional Television, including live, DVR and video-on-demand viewing. Video games, web and PC video,
DVDs and video on mobile devices account for the balance. (Source; other details here)


Who Uses YouTube?
According to a new study from Nielsen Online, the largest number of tykes and preteens go to YouTube
for video (or 4.1 million viewers aged 2 to 11), followed by the Disneychannel.com at a distant second,
with 1.3 million viewers in that age bracket for the month of April. MySpace.com, NickJr, and
Google Video also showed up on that list.  (Source
)


Gen Y Media Habits  (June 2008)
Event Marketing Institute study found:

-- 80% of Gen-Yers own three or more personal media devices;
-- 96% of Millennials go online daily;
-- For 78% of them, cell phones are the most popular methods of remote communication.
(Source)


Still Glued to the Tube
Focusing on the 25- to 54-year-old demographic, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) survey
found that 53% of their total daily media hours are spent with TV, more than all other mediums combined,
and that more of them are reached by TV than other mediums: As much as 90% reported watching TV in
the previous 24 hours, as opposed to 80% for radio, 72.1% for the internet, 58.9% for newspapers and
48.3% for magazines. The time spent with TV in the same 24-hour time frame was also significantly higher
(222.7 minutes) when compared with radio (106.5), the internet (99.7), newspapers (22.1) and magazines (15.1).
Source


Teens Survey of Online/TV Viewing Habits

When 512 teens were asked what content they watched most on "any device," 76% said user-generated clips,
with comedy skits or stand-up routines coming in second and music videos third.  Less than one-half (44%)
said they watched sitcoms, and only 36% said they watched dramas. If the kids are to be believed, they
watch more news and political clips (42%) than celebrities and gossip (25%). The good news for TV is that
83% reported still watching some traditional television, while 44% said they also watched content on a
desktop computer and 24% on a laptop. The teens surveyed were not watching clips on mobile devices in
large numbers, with only 15% saying they watched on portable media players and only 8% on cell phones,
although the media-player figure increased to 28% among those identifying themselves as early adopters.
The telephone survey was conducted Feb. 6-10 of kids 12-17.  (Source; CTAM Study)


In -Home Video Game Growth

Nielsen released a new study (May 08) that claims that there is at least one video game console in
41 percent of all U.S. households. This is an 18.5 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2004.
The Nielsen study concluded that about 46 million U.S. homes have a console game device in them
by the last quarter of 2006. That averages about 150 million people that have access to a video
game console. The study further found that two-thirds of men who are between 18 and 34 years
of age in television households also have access to game consoles.
(Source: “The State of the Console” from Nielsen Wireless and Interactive Services, cited here)


Kids Multitask While Watching TV
Excerpts from Grunwald Associates study:
 

  • 50 percent of 9-to-17-year-olds visit web sites they see on TV even as they continue to watch;
  • 45 percent of teens have sent instant messages or e-mail to others they knew were watching the same TV show
  • One-third (33 percent) of 9-to-17-year-olds say they have participated in online polls, entered contests,
    played online games or other online activities that television programs have directed them to while they are watching.
  • ( Blog story; press release; blog post)


    Watching TV, without the TV
    A study in October (2007) by Nielsen Media Research found that one in four Internet users had streamed full-length television
    episodes online in the last three months, including 39 percent of people ages 18 to 34 and, more surprisingly, 23 percent of those 35 to 54.

    (Source)
     



    Internet Outpacing TV For Time Spent
    A new study  by IDC found that Internet users spent 32.7 hours per week online and about half as much time watching television (16.4 hours).
    Time spent reading newspapers or magazines accounted for 3.9 hours per week, while overall time spent using all media was 70.6 hours.

    The most frequent online activities include using search engines (84% of respondents), followed by using navigation services (83%),
    personal research (77%), and using email (76%). (Source)


     


    Four in Five of All U.S. Adults – An Estimated 178 million – Go Online (Nov. 2007)
    In research among 2,062 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone in July and October, 2007, Harris Interactive® found
    that 79 percent of adults are now online. This is a steady rise over the past few years, from 77 percent in
    February/April 2006, 74 percent in February/April 2005, 66 percent in the spring of 2002, 64 percent in 2001
    and 57 percent in Spring of 2000. When Harris Interactive first began to track Internet use in 1995, only nine
    percent of adults reported they went online.

    The amount of time that people are spending online has also risen. The average number of hours per week that
    people are spending online is now at 11 hours, up from 9 hours last year and 8 hours in 2005.  (Source)



    New Study By Ball State University Examines Daily Media Consumption By Teens (Sept. 2007)

    The report is available in PDF at www.bsu.edu/cmd/insightandresearch/hsmtoo.

    Some highlights:


    Time Spent With Media
    The average American consumer spent 3,530 hours with media in 2006--down 0.5% from 2005, according
    to the just-released estimates from the 21st edition of Veronis Suhler Stevenson's Communications Industry Forecast.
    (Aug. 2007: Source)


     

    Social Media Participation Study

    -
     in the first survey by the Interpublic Group (2006), a little over half of respondents said they read blogs.
    Their latest survey (2008) found that over 70% did.

    - Their first survey found that 30% watched video online, while this year over 80% had
    - In 2006, less than 30% said they set up a social network profile, while this year over 60% had.

    -
    A little over 60% of Internet users in the U.S. said they read blogs, whereas 26% had created one. Over 70% of Internet users blog in South Korea and China,
    and about 90% of South Koreans read blogs and 88% read blogs in China.   (Source)


    Podcasting Explosion

    eMarketer estimates that there was a 285% increase in size of the US podcast audience in 2007, a growth to 18.5 million.
    (Source)



    Global Online Commerce

    More than 85 percent of the world's online population has used the Internet to make a purchase -
    increasing the market for online shopping by 40 percent in the past two years..the most popular
    and purchased items over the Internet are:
    - Books (41% purchased in the past three months),
    - Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36%),
    - Videos / DVDs / Games (24%),
    - Airline Tickets (24%)
    -and Electronic Equipment (23%).

    Source:
    Nielsen Global Online Survey



    Kids & Digital Media

    According to the Kids & Digital Content study, kids are downloading online video clips onto a device 7.1
    times per month, followed by music videos at 5.7 times per month, music at 4.2 times per month, games
    at 3.1 times per month, and ring tones/ring tunes at 2.8 times per month. Playing games is the most
    prevalent activity on the four key devices – 84 percent are gaming on a computer, video game system,
    portable digital music player (PDMP) or cell phone – while more than half are listening to music and
    one-third are communicating with images or interacting with various video formats  (Source NPD Group)

     


    "State of the Media Democracy" Deloitte & Touche new media study
     

    About 62 percent of "millenials" (consumers 13-to-24-years-old) are using their cell phones as entertainment devices,
    up from 46 percent in the previous study. And among Generation X consumers (25-to-41-year-olds), the number grew
    to 47 percent from 29 percent in the earlier survey. About 20 percent of consumers said they are viewing video content
    on their cell phones daily or almost daily.

    The percentage of consumers watching TV online jumped from the 23 percent figure reported in the previous study.
    Roughly 54 percent of those surveyed said they are making their own entertainment content through editing photos,
    videos or music, 45 percent said they are producing that content for others to see, and 32 percent said they consider
    themselves to be "broadcasters" of their own media. 
    (Source: Reuters News Story ; reported in Hollywood Reporter)



    Pew "Teens & Social Media" Study
    some of the highlights:
    Nearly two-thirds of teens - 63 percent - have a cell phone
    35 percent of all online teen girls blog, compared with 20 percent of online teen boys.
    32 percent of girls ages 12 to 14 blog, compared to 18 percent of boys age 15 to 17.
    YouTube and other video sharing sites tend to be the domain of boys. Online teen boys are
    "twice as likely" as girls to post video files online, by a 19 percent to 10 percent margin.

    Fully 41 percent of teens who use MySpace, Facebook or similar sites say they send messages to friends
    via those sites every day. More than half of teens - 55 percent - reported having a profile on sites like
    MySpace or Facebook, and 42 percent of those teens said they also blog, while 70 percent said they read the blogs
    (Source: link to study)

     


    Nokia Study of Future of Entertainment Options
    The study, entitled 'A Glimpse of the Next Episode', carried out by The Future Laboratory, interviewed 9000
    trend-setting consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles signposting emerging entertainment trends.
    Among the results:

    - 23% buy movies in digital format
    - 35% buy music on MP3 files
    - 25% buy music on mobile devices
    - 39% watch TV on the internet
    - 23% watch TV on mobile devices
    - 46% regularly use IM, 37% on a mobile device
    - 29% regularly blog
    - 28% regularly access social networking sites
    - 22% connect using technologies such as Skype
    - 17% take part in Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games
    - 17% upload to the internet from a mobile device 

    Tweens & Mobile Phone Use

    Some 35% of U.S. "tweens," defined as kids aged 8-12, own a mobile phone, and 5% access the Internet over their phones each month,
    according to a new study (Dec. 2007) from The Nielsen Company. The study also found that 20% of tweens have used text messaging, while 21%
    have used ringtones or ringback tones. Of the 5% of tweens who use their phones to access the Internet, 41% said they did so while
    commuting or traveling, while 56% did so at home. At home was also where the majority of tweens said they downloaded or watched
    TV on their phones (58%) or downloaded or played music on their phones (64%).



    AOL Latino Study of Hispanic Media Habits

    Already, 58 percent of Latino consumers own a desktop computer, and there are more than 16 million Latinos online,
    according to AOL Latino's latest Hispanic Cyberstudy. The AOL study indicates that Latinos are wired in many ways:
    68 percent use instant messaging; 63 percent share photos online; 52 percent read or post blogs;
    43 percent visit social networking sites; and 40 percent talk on a phone using the Internet.
    (Source)



    Videogames: Not Just for Males
     

    38% of game players are women.

    7.4 hours a week is what the average woman plays (7.6 hours for men).

    33 is the average age of game players.

    24-35 is the age of women who prefer online games played with other people.

    12 is the average number of years a person has been playing video games.

    35% of parents play video games with their children; 47% are women.

    61% of parents feel that video games are a positive force in their children's lives.

    89% of parents are present for a video-game purchase or rental.

    50% of women who register their Wii systems say they're regular players.

    Sources: Consumer Electronics Association, Entertainment Software Association, Nintendo of America
    (as published in Star Telegram story)



    Youth
     Radio and New Media Habits Survey

    The Paragon Media Strategies online poll of 14- to 24-year-olds found that 73% listen to music on sources other than radio (CDs, mp3s, iPods, streaming, satellite radio, etc.). Even so, radio maintains a 41% share of the younger demo in time listening to recorded music.  Other poll findings: females ages 19-24 indicate their use of radio is significantly more than the other three age/gender groups. Listening to music on sources other than radio is more pronounced among younger and male respondents. 44% are listening more, while 40% are listening less to radio than before.  iPods and personal mix CD's were found as the major threats to radio time spent listening (TSL). 78% have iPods, and half of them (49%) are now listening less to radio (18% are listening more). 68% of iPod owners have personalized playlists and are creating their own content. Over three-quarters said they listen to personalized music CDs (mix CDs), and a third of them (32%) are now listening less to radio (19% are listening more).
    October 2007 Source



    Parents Watch More TV Than Their Teenagers

    -
    In 2007, female parents age 45-54 will spend 47.6 days watching television. Those who are 35-44 will watch television for 38.3 days.

    -As for fathers, those 45-54 will spend 40.2 days watching television, and those 35-44 will spend 33.9 days sitting before the screen.

    -Their teenage children from 13-17 will spend 33.35 days watching television.

    Source: Integrated Media Measurement, Inc (IMMI))



    Latest KFF Study

    Key results from the Kaiser Family Foundation survey
    Parents, Children & Media: A Kaiser Family Foundation Survey,
    (as reported by San Fran Chronicle 6/20/07)

    Impact of violent and sexual content

    -- 43 percent of parents think violent content contributes a lot to violent behavior in children.
    -- 55 percent think sexual content contributes a lot to inappropriate sexual behaviors.

    Concerns about media exposure

    -- 51 percent of parents are very concerned that their children are exposed to too much sex.
    -- 46 percent are very concerned that their children are exposed to too much violence.
    -- 20 percent say their children are exposed to a lot of inappropriate content.

    Concerns about media exposure, by race

    -- 67 percent of black parents, 57 percent of Hispanic parents and 45 percent of white parents are very concerned about their children's exposure to sex.
    -- 64 percent of black parents, 55 percent of Hispanic parents, and 39 percent of white parents are very concerned about their children's exposure to violence.

    Monitoring children's media exposure

    -- 65 percent of parents said they closely monitor their children's media use.
    -- 18 percent said they should be doing more to monitor their children's media use.

    Concerns about the Internet

    -- 73 percent of parents said they know "a lot" about what their children do online.
    -- 7 percent said they know little or nothing about what their children do online.
    -- 59 percent said the Internet is mostly a positive influence on their children.




    Cell phone usage: nearly 16% of US homes have no land lines
    One in four people aged 18 to 24 had only cell phones, as did 29 percent of those aged 25 to 29,
    the study showed. The percentages declined with age after that, with 2 percent of those 65 or over having only cell phones.
    Other findings:

    -15 percent of Hispanic adults, 13 percent of black adults, 12 percent of Asians and 11 percent of whites had only cell phones;

    -22 percent of the poorest adults had only cell phones, double the rate for those who are not poor;

    -13 percent of males and 11 percent of females had cell phones only;

    -Nearly 2 percent of adults had no phone at all.
    (Source: CDC's National Health Interview Survey, quoted in AP
    news story)


    Media use by toddlers
    One-fifth of infants and toddlers under age 3 have a television in their bedrooms, according
    to a new study
    :in the journal Pediatrics: Digital Childhood: Electronic Media and Technology
    Use Among Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers
    In addition to the youngest group, 43 percent
    of 3- to 4-year-olds have TVs in their rooms, potentially setting up an unhealthy habit, the authors wrote.
    (Chicago Tribune)


    Explosion in Social Networking: study reveals
    More than 70% of Americans 15-34 are actively using social networks online
    The research found that brands such as adidas and Electronic Arts attributed more than 70% of
    their marketing return on investment to the Momentum Effect.
    Of those polled, 69% said they
    utilize social networks to connect with existing friends and 41% said they use the sites connect
    with family members.
    In addition, the "Never Ending Friending" study revealed that current social
    networkers spend on average more than seven hours per week on social networking sites, and that
    those hours are driving the growth of overall time spent online. More than 31% of online social networkers
    claim they spend more time on the Web in general after starting to use a social network.  (Source)


    More evidence of teen and pre-teen multi-tasking

    Kids between the ages of 2 and 12 years old spend more than a quarter of their leisure time doing
    two or more activities at the same time. Favorite pastimes among the sample group included reading,
    using the computer, spending time with friends, listening to music and watching TV. Kids today have
    plenty of leisure time, with 2-to-11-year-olds averaging roughly 68 hours a week, and 5-to-12-year-olds
    averaging 58 hours. Toddling 2-to-4-year-olds are true layabouts, averaging 94 hours of leisure time every week.
    (Source:
    NPD Group's "Kids' Leisure Time II" report, cited in Emarketer news story)

    1 in 3 Americans watch TV away from home: study
    One-third of U.S. television viewers watch broadcasts outside their home, a Arbitron
    study released April 4 shows, suggesting that a larger audience than thought is tuning into TV at bars, work,
    at a friend's house or the gym. The Internet, portable music players and other types of new media have
    widened the entertainment choices for Americans, creating competition for the $70 billion in advertising
    money the TV industry attracts a year. By age group, 64 percent of 12-17 year olds watched TV away
    from home at least once per week; 49 percent of 18-24 year olds watched away from home; and about
    23 percent of those aged 55 and older watched away from home. Of all respondents, more watched TV in
    someone else's home than anywhere else, at 25 percent. By comparison, 11 percent watched at a
    restaurant or bar and 7 percent at work. (Source: Reuters)


    YOUTH EXPOSURE TO ADS ON TV
    Kids 8-12-years old see an average of 21 food ads a day--more than 7,600 a year--
    most of which are for candy and snacks (34%), cereal (28%), and fast food (10%).
    (Source BC News;  March 2007-Kaiser Family Foundation study)


    WHO HAS INTERNET AND WHO DOES NOT
    According to a new study from Park Associates, a technology market research company in Dallas,
    29 percent of U.S. households have no internet service provider and no plans to get one. (Source)


    NIELSEN RESEARCH ON TV USE
    There are an average of 111.4 million TV homes in the United States for the 2006-07 TV season.
    The average U.S. TV home has 2.5 people and 2.8 television sets.

    28% of U.S. TV homes have digital cable.
    64% of homes have wired cable hook-ups (down from 68% in 2000) and 23% have satellite or specialized antenna systems to receive television signals.
    82% of U.S homes have more than one television set at home.
    84% of U.S. homes have a DVD player.  (Source)


    VIDEO GAME USAGE
    More than one in three U.S. adults who go online, or 37 percent, own a video game
    console and 16 percent own a portable gaming device  (Source Nielsen//NetRatings)


    MEDIA HABITS OF CHILDREN AGE 6-11 
        * Forty percent of MP3/Digital Media Player owners reported owning Apple's iPod
        * 975,000 have visited/used MySpace.com in the last month
        * 2,376,000 have downloaded music online in the last month
        * 1,367,000 have written or read an online journal/blog in the last month
        * Fifty-four (54) percent (or 13,078,000) have a television in their room
        * Twenty-six (26) percent (or 6,263,000) have a stereo in their room
        * Nineteen (19) percent (or 4,658,000) have a computer in their room

                                                    (Source: Fall 2006 National Kids Study; additional details)


    TWEEN MEDIA HABITS
    An annual survey by Solutions Research Group for YTV, showed that tweens - kids ages 7 to 12 - spend 45% of their media time watching TV, 14% on the Internet, 12% on video games, 11% on music, 11% on radio, 6% on DVDs and 1% on cell phones. Kids watch about 17 hours per week of television, according to BBM Nielsen Research. Although tweens are spending 14% of their media time on the Internet, teens ages 12 to 19 spend 25% of their media time on the Internet. (Source)


    INTERNET: MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN TV/MAGAZINES?
    50 percent of broadband users in the U.S. say a recent purchase was influenced by the Internet, 36 percent were influenced by shopping sites and 15 percent by search engines. This was more than TV commercials (11 percent) and magazine advertisements (6 percent), showing the growing impact of online sources on purchasing decisions, as revealed in Netpop | Shop, a recent study by Media-Screen, a market research firm that focuses on online consumer trends. (Source)



    SOURCES OF POLITICAL NEWS
    The Internet still trails television and newspapers as the leading sources for political news, but it gained significantly in usage since the midterm elections of 2002, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found. The study, released 1/17/07, revealed that 69 percent of Americans cited television and 34 percent considered newspapers their leading choices for news; survey respondents could specify their top two. Radio and the Internet each got about 15 percent, while magazines had 2 percent. Even among online users, the Internet was a leading source for only 22 percent. It rises to 35 percent for high-speed Internet users under age 36. (Source: AP)


    PEW STUDY ON TEEN INTERNET USE
    In the ever-growing field of MySpace-Facebook-teenager data analysis, the Pew Internet & American Life Project released a survey January 7, 2007 that finds 55 percent of all teenagers online use social networking sites. The Pew survey found that 70 percent of teen girls, ages 15 to 17, had profiles on social networking sites, compared with 57 percent of boys in that age bracket.



    DVDs OVERTAKE VCRS IN HOMES
    81% of households now own a DVD player, while just over 79% have a VCR, according to Nielsen Media Research’s third-quarter (2006) home technology report.  Nielsen’s survey also showed that 73%of homes currently have a computer, while nearly 27 % of homes rent or own an MP3 player and more than 16% of homes own a PDA. Households with children or teens are more likely to own a computer, and those homes with children ages 12 to 17 are two and a half times likely to own or rent an MP3 player. (Source AP; link to report)


    2007 MEDIA HABIT PREDICTION
    It turns out that in 2007, American adults and teens will spend an estimated 3,518 hours - or nearly five months each - plus $936.75 per person consuming media. 
    Predictions:

    • 65 days in front of the TV;
    • 41 days listening to the radio;
    • A little over a week on the Internet;
    • A week reading a daily newspaper; and
    • Another week listening to recorded music.

    Those numbers are provided in a communications industry forecast that is included in the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007: "Media Usage and Consumer Spending: 2000 to 2009." (Source)


    GENERATION M MULTI TASKING STUDY (KAISER)

    A new (Dec. 2006) study from the Kaiser Family Foundation says that teens and kids do there fair share of media multitasking. One area that sees the least multitasking is TV. 55 percent of the time teens are not multitasking while watching TV. The same goes for video games. The activity that has the most multitasking involved is e-mail. When using e-mail they are multitasking nearly 80 percent of the time. (Source)


    BROADBAND USE: POPULAR AT HOME

    More than three-quarters of residential Web users got on the Internet using a high-speed broadband connection in November 2006, according to a study released December 11. The 78 percent broadband penetration rate for U.S. homes represents a jump from 65 percent a year earlier, Nielsen/NetRatings found. The research company said broadband users spent 33 percent more time online than dial-up users _ nearly 35 hours for the month, compared with 26 hours and some change for dial-up. Broadband users also viewed twice as many Web pages. Games, instant messaging, e-mail and social networking were among the leading activities among high-speed users. (Source)


    GEN X, Y MEDIA HABITS
    In a Forrester Research study of North American households' media habit, Gen Xers (age 27-40) reported
    spending more time per week watching TV than using the Internet, 11.2 hours vs. 9.5. Among Gen Yers
    (age 18-26), Internet time exceeded TV time, but by a relatively modest margin (12.2. hours vs. 10.6).
    (Source)


    TRACKING AUDIENCE GROWTH FOR PODCASTS
    Twelve percent of Web users surveyed in August said they have downloaded a podcast--up from 7% who said the same in a survey conducted between February and April. Those numbers appear higher than what was reported in July by media measurement company Nielsen//NetRatings, which found that 6.6% of U.S. adult Web users had downloaded a podcast in the last 30 days. (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project )



    TV WATCHING VIA THE COMPUTER
    One out of every 10 online consumers is watching television shows on a computer, according to
    a report released October 25.
    (Source:
    The Consumer Internet Barometer, produced by The Conference Board )



    RTNDA FUTURE OF NEWS STUDY


    TEENS TUNE INTO NEWS ON THE INTERNET, KNIGHT FOUNDATION STUDY SHOWS

    66 percent of high school students get their news and information from the news pages of Internet portals such as Google and Yahoo!,
    45 percent from national TV news web sites,
    34 percent from local TV or newspaper web sites,
    32 percent from blogs and
    21 percent from national newspaper sites.

    45 percent of high school students say TV provides the most accurate news;
    23 percent say newspapers,
    and 10 percent say blogs

    46 percent of students get news and information at least once a week from entertainment shows such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and South Park.

    31 percent of high school students post comments on blogs or online columns at least once a week.

    Only 10 percent of teens say they are not at all interested in the news, mostly because they feel it isn’t presented in an interesting way.

    Nine of 10 teens are wired to the Internet through school and eight in 10 through the home.
    (Source: www.firstamendmentfuture.org.)


    US Has More TVs Than People ( AP, Sept, 22, 2006 )

    NEW YORK (AP) - Televisions have taken over the average American home. Nielsen Media Research says the average home in the U-S now has more television sets than people to sit down and watch them. The researchers say there are now two-point-73 T-V sets in the typical home, compared to just two-point-55 people. Nielsen says half of American homes now have three or more T-Vs, while only 19 percent have just one. In 1975, 57 percent of homes had only a single set.  Nielsen also says more people are watching more television, as sets are turned on for more than eight hours a day in the average home. The average person watches for four hours and 35 minutes of television each day. (Source: AP; Nielsen)



    More than 50% of homes have at least three
    working televisions. USA average: 2.8.
    (Frank N. Magid Associates/By Tracey Wong Briggs
    and Gia Kereselidze, USA TODAY)


    TV Viewing Continues to Rise
    The total average time a household watched television during the 2005-2006 television year was 8 hours and 14 minutes per day, a 3-minute increase from the 2004-2005 season and a record high. The average amount of television watched by an individual viewer increased 3 minutes per day to 4 hours and 35 minutes, also a record. Meanwhile, during primetime, households tuned to an average of 1 hour and 54 minutes of primetime television per night, up 1 minute, and the average viewer watched 1 hour and 11 minutes, which was the same as last year.

    Although teenagers typically drive the consumption and development of new media platforms, teens age 12-17 viewed 3% more traditional television during the full day than in the 2004-2005 television year. This increase was driven primarily by teenage girls, who increased their Total Day viewing by 6%. Increases among teenage girls were particularly high during early morning (6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) and late night (11:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.) viewing, which were up 12% and 6%, respectively.

    Younger children age 2-11 also watched more television during 2005-2006, increasing their total day viewing levels by 4%. Viewing by children increased 3% during primetime, 5% during early morning and 6% during late night.

    During 2005-2006, African American and Hispanic Total Day persons’ viewing levels increased 4% and 3%, respectively, with significant increases among children and teenage girls. African American viewing among children age 2-11 and teen girls age 12-17 increased 10% and 9%, respectively, while viewing among Hispanic children and teenage girls increased 14% and 6%, respectively. (Source; Nielsen)


    # of Commercials in Prime Time (September 2006)
    The average hour of prime-time broadcast network programming contained two minutes and 51 seconds
    of in-show brand appearances in the second quarter, according to TNS Media Intelligence. On top of that
    were 18 minutes and 12 second of commercial messages. That means to about 35 percent of each
    prime-time hour contains marketing content. Source


    Nielsen Revises TV Market Sizes Based on Homes With Television (August 2006)
    The total number of television households within the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) is now
    estimated at 111.4 million, an increase of 1.1 percent since last year, according to Nielsen
    Media Research. These estimates, which are projected to January 1, 2007, will be used for
    the entire 2006-2007 television season. Nielsen today also reported many shifts in local market
    rankings, in large part because of more people migrating to the Southern and Western regions
    of the U.S., as well as a significant shift in New Orleans.
    (Full report including list of TV markets can be found here)



    Major Study of Online Users

    Gen Yers spend 12.2 hours online every week -- 28 percent longer than 27- to
    40-year-old Gen Xers and almost twice as long as 51- to 61-year-old Older Boomers.
    Gen Yers are also much more likely to engage in Social Computing activities while online.
    For example, they are 50 percent more likely than Gen Xers to send instant messages,
    twice as likely to read blogs, and three times as likely to use social networking sites like MySpace.

    Other results:

    -- Forty-one percent of North American households now have broadband Internet
    access at home -- up from 29 percent at the end of 2004.

    -- Seventy-five percent of North American households have mobile phones, and almost half
    of them make the bulk of their long-distance phone calls on these mobile phones.

    -- Forty-five percent of Gen Yers, 27 percent of Gen Xers, and 17 percent of 41- to 50-year-
    old Younger Boomers who have a mobile phone use it for data services, led by text messaging,
    ring tones, and games.

    -- Cross-channel shopping continues to grow. Gen Yers, for example, are 73 percent more likely
    to research online and shop offline today than they were in 2004.

    -- Ninety-one percent of online households use a search engine once a week or more. For
    online Gen Yers and Gen Xers, Google attracts 62 percent of searchers, and 25 percent limit
    their searches to only Google.

    -- Seventy-eight percent of online Gen Yers and 61 percent of online Seniors aged 62 and
    up book or research travel online.

    (Source: July 2006 North American Consumer Technology Adoption Study 2006 Benchmark Survey)


    Podcasting Popularity

    6.6% of the U.S. adult online population, or 9.2 million Web users,
    have recently downloaded an audio podcast; 4.0 %, or 5.6 million Web
    users, have recently downloaded a video podcast. These figures put the podcasting 
    population on a par with those who publish blogs, 4.8 %, and online daters, 3.9 %. 
    However, podcasting is not yet nearly as popular as viewing and paying bills online, 51.6 %,
    or online job hunting, 24.6 %. (July 2006, Nielsen/Net Ratings Source)


    Spending Habits of Teens
    Teenagers spent over $158 billion in 2005 and are predicted to spend $205 billion in 2008.
    (Source)


    Conference addresses problems of children and unmonitored media (June 2006)
    (Story; New America Foundation; Family Media Safety Guide; UPI )


    Common Sense Media Poll on Parents, Kids & Internet Use (June 2006)
    • 85% of Parents say the Internet is the most risky for kids compared to 13% for TV
    • 91% of Parents say that the Internet helps their kids explore things they’re passionate about
    • 77% of Parents say they see the Internet as an important tool to help their kids learn
    • 80% of Parents worry about predators in their kids’ Internet use
    • 76% of Parents say they would like to make the Internet a safer place for kids
    • 83% of Parents say There is no excuse for not knowing enough about the Internet to protect your kids or teens
    • 88% of parents think it’s more important to know what their kids are doing online than to respect their kids’ privacy
    • 87% of parents seek out information about their kids’ Internet use a few times a month
    (Source)


    Study: More and More Children Using Consumer Electronics



    TV DOMINATES MEDIA USAGE (April 2006)

    According to a TVB study of 1,183 people in January, which was released at TVB's annual marketing conference in New York, adults spent an average of 264.5 minutes per 24 hours watching TV, compared to 125.5 minutes for radio, 85 for the Internet, 20 for newspapers and 16.3 with magazines. The study found that TV advertising is the most influential, with 81.8% naming TV. Newspapers were next at 62.2%, but the Internet was also strong, just behind print at 59.8%, ahead of magazines at 51%. On the news front, broadcast TV won out again, cited as the primary source by 43% or respondents, compared to 23.8% for cable news networks. Broadcast TV also scored points for public service, named as the most involved in their community by 54.3%. Newspapers were second at 25.9%. Cable news networks were named by 6.3%, and only 2.7% named public TV stations. (Source: Broadcasting & Cable)


    ACCESSING NEWSPAPERS ONLINE GROWS

    A study being released April 3, 2006 by the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group, found that one in three Internet users — 55 million — visit a newspaper website every month. Also, unique visitors to newspaper websites jumped 21% from January 2005 to December 2005, while the number of page views soared by 43% over the same period. (AP, via USA Today)



    WATCHING VIDEO ONLINE
    24% of Internet users access video at least once a week, while 46% watch video at least once a month. News leads the way in frequency of viewing, with 27% of online video viewers watching at least once a week, followed closely by funny videos (26% watch at least once a week). Online video viewing is very common at home (39% of those with home Internet access watch at least once a week) compared to 19% of those who watch at least once a week at work, according to Online Publishers Association.



    TIME SPENT USING HOME COMPUTERS
    The average person now (2006) spends 30.5 hours per month using their home computer; 
    two years ago (2004) the average person spent only 25.5 hours at their PC each month.
    (Study by Nielsen/NetRatings: http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId


    LOCAL NEWS DRIVES NEWSPAPER READERSHIP 
    A new survey (by the market research business Outsell Inc.) finds that 
    61% of consumers look to their newspapers as an essential source for 
    local news, events and sports, followed by television (58%) and radio (35%). 
    Seventy-one percent of respondents say they rely on network, cable and 
    satellite TV for national news.

    Source: News Story   Link to full study


    NEWSPAPER ADULT READERSHIP UP? (If you count online...)


    Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060217/managing.html?.v=1


    TRADITIONAL TV VIEWING STILL DOMINATES TIME

    According to a recent FCC report, Americans spend close to 30 percent of their day 
    engaged in some activity involving media, with television viewing being the dominant media activity.

     

    From September 2004 to September 2005, the average household tuned into TV for 
    eight hours, 11 minutes per day.

     

    But the report also said that while TV consumption is growing, cable subscribership has 
    declined slightly in the past year. Cable’s share of the video market is approximately 69.4 percent, 
    but that is down from almost 71.6 percent a year earlier.  (Source)


    MAGAZINES, OTHER MEDIA & MULTI-TASKING

    According to a new study from Ball State University's Center for Media Design, 
    consumers paid significant attention to magazines when used in conjunction with radio, 
    TV, and the internet. Newspapers ranked second.
    Nearly half of all magazine consumption 
    takes place with the TV on, as well, while more than half - 51.6 percent - of all newspaper 
    time takes place with the TV on.
    Magazines also show heavier readership on Mondays and 
    Fridays, while newspaper readership is highest on Sundays. TV, radio, and internet exposure 
    is lowest on weekends.
    Source:  MediaBuyerPlanner 2/06/06; Link to study:here

    Other findings from the study:


    AGE OF INTERNET USERS
    Age      Pct of Americans In Age Group Online
    12-17   87%
    18-24   82%
    25-29   85%
    30-34   83%
    40-44   76%
    45-49   73%
    50-54   68%
    55-59   68%
    60-64   55%
    65-69   57%
    70-75   26%
    76+      17%
    (Source: Wash Post 2/6/06 quoting Pew Internet & American
    Life Project surveys conducted Oct.-Nov. 2004 (teens) and
    Jan.-June 2005 (adults)


    ONLINE CONSUMERS SPEND AS MUCH TIME ONLINE AS IN FRONT OF THE TV
    According to a new report entitled: "U.S. Entertainment and Media Consumer Survey, 2005," 
    authored by JupiterResearch Analyst Barry Parr, the average online consumer spends 14 hours 
    a week online, which is the same amount of time they watch TV. 
    Source: http://www.jupitermedia.com/corporate/releases/06.01.30-newjupresearch.html



    New study reveals more multitasking
    The new white paper "Engaging the Ad-Supported Media" reveals:
    • Television dominates in the home, radio is the main medium in the car and computer usage 
    is common both at work and home.
    • Magazines are the medium with the largest proportion of time used at "other" locations, 
    which is due, in part, to print publications found in public places where people wait for service.
    • Most people read newspapers in the morning.
    • Television dominates as a news source in the early morning; up to 70 percent of participants 
    watch television in the evenings.
    • Magazines show heavier readership on Mondays (29.1 percent) and Fridays (34.7 percent), 
    newspaper readership peaks on Sundays and television exposure is lowest on the weekends.
    • Participants were observed using all five ad-supported media while involved in everyday 
    life activities. For example, for time spent with television, the top three non-media activities — 
    eating, housework, and work — were relatively equal, together occupying about 19 percent 
    of TV viewing minutes.
    • Radio maintained its reputation as a classic background medium, with participants listening 
    as an exclusive activity only 24 percent of the time.
    • Almost half of all magazine exposure is experienced with television in the background, while 
    television is the highest-ranked partner for newspapers by average minutes 
    (51.6 percent of all newspaper time).
    Source:  http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/517630/ and http://www.bsu.edu/cmd/insightresearch


    Video game users statistics
    New survey by Entertainment Software Association and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, showed that the typical "gamer parent" is 37 years old, has been playing video and computer games for an average of 13 years, and spends 19 hours each month on the activity.
    The  survey showed that 35 percent of U.S. parents play video and computer games. Of those, 80 percent play video and computer games with their children, and 66 percent believe playing the games has brought their families closer together.
    (Source: News story)


    Popularity of Blogs
    A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project ( www.pewinternet.org
    that by the end of 2004, about 8 million people had created a blog.
    Source: news story


    Internet Use 2005

    The year 2005 showed the most Internet use to date with 78.6 percent of Americans going online with the average weekly usage rising to 13.3 hours. In 2000, 46.9 percent of users reported that they use home Internet access. This number increased to 66.2 percent in 2005, according to the study.
     
    Once the main portal to the Internet, the telephone modem is no longer the most common type of Internet connection. Only 45.6 percent of users reported that they access the Internet via a telephone modem, down from 61.5 percent in the previous study. Users accessing the Internet via a Broadband connection are currently at 48.3 percent and continue to increase.

    Source: Fifth USC Study of the Internet by the Digital Future Project.
    quoted in http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2006/jan/1277873.htm

    AVERAGE Time spent watching TV (Fall 2005 vs Fall 2004)
    4:39 (Four hours 39 minutes) the average time a person spent watching TV each day this Fall
    4:35 (last fall)
    (Source: NY Times, 1/9/06)


    Music Listening Preferences

    85 percent of the 2,000 teen-to-twenty-somethings interviewed claimed they would choose to listen to music from their MP3 players rather than traditional radio. 54 percent said they’d prefer to listen to music over the Internet as compared to the 30 percent who chose AM/FM. And 31 percent were exposed to new music over the radio versus 72 percent who found that new music on the Internet.
    (Source: 12/8/05  “How to Make Music Radio Appealing To The Next Generation" USC MediaLab)


    10th Annual Videogame Report Card


    American Kids Study 2005

    Gaming is the top online activity.
    CD players outnumber MP3 players for music listening
    70% want to make a lot of money when they are older.
    When asked what they do when TV commercials come on, 
    nearly 60% of respondents say they watch them.
    Source: http://www.mediamark.com/mri/docs/press.html

    More from this study: more than half said they listen to music on CD players more than MP3 players, and that most (74%) listened to music most often on car radios. Surprising to me, only 4.1% said they listen on an MP3 player, though I’m sure this number is going up as MP3 players get cheaper and cheaper.  Source: 
    http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2006/01/kids_dont_skip.html


    Video game users

    According to a soon to be released study of 4,000 adults and 1,000 teens conducted online for Jack Myers Media Business Report, 62 percent of all males and 47 percent of all females played video games either on consoles or online in the past week. Males spent an average of one hour and six minutes daily and females 42 minutes daily. Eighty percent of males 18-24 played video games in the past week as did 55 percent of females 18-24.

    Among teens, 71.5 percent of all males and 47.7 percent of all females played video games either on consoles or online in the past week. Males spent an average of one hour and 54 minutes daily and females an average of 36 minutes daily.
    Source: http://www.adrants.com/2005/11/gaming-medium-growing-in-pervasiveness.php


    African Americans & TV 
    According to Nielsen Media Research, the television is on in the typical African-American 
    home 11 hours, 10 minutes a day, compared with 7 hours, 34 minutes in white homes. 
    Nielsen translates that to about 79 hours a week of TV in black homes compared with 
    about 52 hours in white homes. On average, black children watch nearly two hours more 
    television a day than white students, which translates to 14 hours a week that black 
    students could be reading or doing homework.
    (Source: Boston Globe Op Ed by Derrick Z. Jackson, November 6, 2005)



    Youth media use
    Sixty nine percent of kids 6-14 have TVs in their bedrooms, according to Nickelodeon’s 
    "U.S. Multicultural Kids Study 2005." That’s compared to 49% who have videogame 
    systems in their bedrooms, 46% who have VCRs, 37% who have DVD players, 
    35% who have cable or satellite TV service, 24% who have PCs and 18% who have 
    Internet access.......The high percentage of TVs in kids bedrooms comes at a time 
    when Nielsen is reporting the highest levels of TV viewing among kids in more than 
    20 years. Through Oct. 9, 2005, kids aged 6-11 watched 23 hours and 3 minutes a week, 
    according to Nielsen. That’s compared to 21 hours and 18 minutes in 1992.
    Source: http://www.progress.org/2005/tv02.htm


    Teen blog users revealing personal info
    About half of all the blogs on the Internet are authored by teenagers, according to a 2003 study by the Perseus Development Corp. (a web survey software provider); and a majority of the top 15 sites visited by teens 17 and under in January of 2005 were either blogs or social networking sites, according to comScore Media Metrix (an Internet audience profiler).

    A study of teenage blogs published by the Children's Digital Media Center at Georgetown University revealed that two-thirds of teenage bloggers provide their age and first name; 60 percent offer their location and contact information; and one in five divulge their full name on their sites.
    Source: http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20051026/News/110260007



    Average American Family TV Viewing
    (Nielsen Survey, Sept. 2005)

    8 hours 11 minutes September 2004 to September 2005 
    8 hours  1 minute September 2003 to September 2004
    7 hours 15 minutes September 1994 to September 1995

    Source: http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46225
    See also:  Nielsen Reports Americans Watch TV at Record Levels


    Ball State University Middletown Media Studies 2 (Sept.26. 2005)

    Here are the overall amounts of media minutes spent per user per day 
    according to the 5,000 hours of observations recorded by the project researchers:


    Young Children's TV Viewing
    Nielsen Media Research estimates that there are 15.9 million children 
    aged 2 to 5, and Nielsen figures show that the children watched an 
    average of 3 hours and 40 minutes of television a day during the 
    2004-5 TV season - 13 minutes more than the 2000-1 season.
    (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/business/media/26kids.html)


    Internet consumption twice as high as magazines and newspapers

    During a typical week, the Forrester Research respondents were found to spend around 
    10 hours per week on a PC, with 6 hours actively spent browsing the Internet 
    compared to 13 hours watching TV, 7 hours listening to the radio, 3.4 hours 
    reading newspapers and 2.4 hours reading magazines.
    Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/66525.html


    Internet Use by Kids & Teens (September 2005)
    eMarketer's new report, "Kids & Teens: Blurring the Line between Online and Offline," says kids and teens make up 19% of all US Internet users. That's some 18.8 million teens and another 14.1 million children. About 73% of teens ages 12-17 and 39% of children ages 3-11 are online regularly.
    http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/050907/094702.html


    RADIO
    Paragon Media Strategies has released a study that says radio is still 
    the primary music-listening source for 51% of its respondents, age 18 to 64. 
    Purchased CDs are second, at 30%. Forty-eight percent said radio is their 
    primary source for hearing new music.


    Gamers' TV time going down the tube
    http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050809/d_lline09.art.htm

    If video killed the radio star in the 1980s, then it seems video games are trying to do 
    the same thing to TV in this decade, according to the Digital Gaming in America survey 
    released Aug.9 by Ziff Davis Media. The study noted that 24% of gamers reduced their 
    TV watching over the past year and 18% expect to cut small-screen viewership next year. 
    Video gamers watched 11.1% less TV than last year, dropping their weekly TV viewership 
    to 16 hours, compared with 18 hours in 2004. The gaming population showed an 11.4% 
    increase to 76.2 million video gamers this year, compared with 67.5 million a year ago.

    There are 76.2 million game-playing households in the U.S. in 2005 -- up 11.4% from 
    67.5 million in 2004.   Source: http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=45987

    WHAT TEENS DO ONLINE

    The percentage of U.S. Internet users, ages 12-17, who do the following online:

    89% - Send or read e-mail
    84% - Go to Web sites about movies, TV shows, music groups, sports
    81% - Play online games
    76% - Go online to get news or information about current events
    75% - Send or receive instant messages
    57% - Go online to get information about college
    43% - Buy online merchandise
    22% - Look for information about a health topic that's hard to talk about


    SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project (July 27,2005)


    Multi-Tasking While Consuming Media
    by Jack Loechner, 
    Tuesday, Jul 5, 2005 3:00 AM EST
    MULTI-TASKING WHILE CONSUMING MEDIA The latest Simultaneous Media Survey from BIGresearch details a new hurdle for advertisers, multitasking, the engagement in other non-media activities while consuming media, and the numbers are large. According to Joe Pilotta, VP of Research, BIGresearch, "The complexities of everyday life seem to be increasing, and as a result consumers are multitasking as a way of coping."

    The 25-34 year olds are most likely to engage in multi-tasking, says the report, when using electronic media (TV, Radio, Internet) with almost 70% saying they do so regularly or occasionally. The 55+ age group multitasks the least but like the 25-34 year olds are most likely to do so when using electronic media, 60% say they multitask regularly or occasionally using TV.

    The percent of people 18+ who say they multitask while using various media's

     

    Multitaskers

    Online

    69.3%

    Radio

    69.0%

    TV

    68.1%

    Mail

    49.5%

    Newspaper

    40.9%

    Magazine

    40.2%

    Source: BIGresearch, June 2005

    "It's apparent that multitasking and simultaneous media consumption creates competition for the same time and space. Media may be relegated to the background when consumers multitask e.g. talking on the phone. When they simultaneously consume media, one of the media can morph into the background and back to the foreground intermittently. That is why understanding which media have the greatest influence on purchasing various merchandise categories becomes a key determinant for marketing ROI in today's complex media environment," said Pilotta.

    Find out more here.

    Center for Media Research


    RADIO
    According to Road and Marketing Fact Book 2003, more than 75 percent of the 
    U.S. population age 12 and older listens to radio daily and 94 percent tune in 
    on a weekly basis.
    Source: http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosconsumer/0507/11/G01-231075.htm




    CABLE AUDIENCE AGE

    Youngest audiences
    Cable Net   Median Age
    Nick at Nite 15.4
    Fuse 19.7
    MTV2 20.2
    MTV 21.5
    BET 26.2
    VH1 28.1
    Comedy 30.1
    ABC Family 35.2
    TBS 37.1
    FX 37.4

    Source: USA Today
    www.usatoday.com/
    printedition/
    life/20050707/
    d_nielspotlight07.art.htm


    Oldest audiences
    Cable Net    Media Age
    Fox News 61.8
    CNN 61.2
    Hallmark 58.5
    MSNBC 57.5
    Biography 57.2
    Game Show 56.6
    Headline 56.1
    BBC America 53.9
    TV Land 53.7
    HGTV 53.4



    Demographic estimates within U.S. TV households include:

    Demographic 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003
    Households 102,200,000 105,500,000 106,700,000
    Persons 2+ 261,780,000 269,880,000 272,040,000
    Women 18+ 103,780,000 107,070,000 108,190,000
    Men 18+ 95,490,000 98,560,000 99,020,000
    Teens 12-17 22,660,000 23,520,000 24,840,000
    Children 2-11 39,850,000 40,730,000 39,990,000

    Source: http://www.psaresearch.com/newnewsletter/goodwillnov02.asp


    Read NY Times story accompanying this graphic

    Less Time for Movies




    Media Report to Women- Industry Statistics


    MONITORING KIDS ONLINE ACTIVITY
    May 23, 2005--A new survey commissioned by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(R) (NCMEC) and Cox Communications reveals that, while nearly half of the parents surveyed monitor their children's online activity daily or weekly, the other half admit they don't even know that such monitoring tools are available. The results are a compelling backdrop for Internet Safety Month in June.


          Other key findings:

          -- Over half (51%) of parents either do not have or do not know if they have software on their computer(s) that monitors where their teenager(s) go online and with whom they interact.

          -- 42% of parents do not review the content of what their teenager(s) read and/or type in chat rooms or via instant messaging.

          -- Teenagers who Instant Message use chat lingo to communicate and parents don't know the meanings of some of the most commonly used phrases. 57% don't know LOL (Laughing Out Loud), 68% don't know BRB (Be Right Back), and 92% don't know A/S/L (Age/Sex/Location).

          -- 95% of parents couldn't identify common chat room lingo that teenagers use to warn people they're chatting with that their parents are watching. Those phrases are POS (Parent Over Shoulder) and P911 (Parent Alert).

          -- Nearly three out of 10 (28%) of parents don't know or are not sure if their teens talk to strangers online.

          -- 30% of parents allow their teenagers to use the computer in private areas of the house such as a bedroom or a home office. Parents say they are more vigilant about where their teen(s) go online if the computer is in a public area of the household.

          -- 58% of parents surveyed say they review the content of what their teenager(s) read and/or type in chat rooms or via Instant Messaging; 42% do not.

    Complete survey results at:  www.cox.com/TakeCharge


    AUDIENCE DECLINE OF THE BIG 3 TV NETWORKS


    from WSJ story, 5/23/05


    TIME SPENT IN FRONT OF TV
    ...actual hours in front of the tube vary considerably. College-educated workers spend 1.4 hours a day -- 6% of their 24 hours -- watching TV. Consumers with a high-school diploma but no job spend four hours a day -- 17% of their existence -- watching the small screen.
    The study, based on 2003 data, found that Americans spend 11% of their life in front of a TV screen. (excerpt from Bureau of Labor Statistics report on how Americans spend their time... reported on Advertising Age web site:  http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=44895)


    VIDEO GAMES
    About 70 percent of males age 18 to 34 play video games and spend less time consuming other media. According to Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, people who see ads in games recall them better. In 2003, Nielsen said that males in this age group played 30 billion hours of games, as much time as they spent watching TV. And much of the playing occurred during prime time TV hours. Source:http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/11364926.htm


    MEDIA HABITS: KIDS AGE 8-18      Kids media habits
    Kaiser Family Foundation (March 9) releases "
    Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds"

    Teens spend 90 minutes a day online:

     LOS ANGELES, March 2 : Some teenagers spend more than 90 minutes every day instant messaging and e-mailing 
    their friends and downloading music online, researchers said Wednesday. The most frequently cited reasons for instant 
    messaging are to "hang out" with friends and relieve boredom, Children's Digital Media researchers said. The most common 
    topics are friends and gossip. "The Internet appears to serve social functions similar to the telephone's," researcher Elisheva Gross said.

    The study examined the online habits of 200 12- to 15-year-old suburban California students. It found students spend an 
    average 40 minutes a day instant messaging friends, 31.4 minutes downloading music and 22 minutes sending and reading e-mail.
    The study, reported in a special issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, was funded by the National Science Foundation,

    - -- Copyright 2005 by United Press International.


    Electronic Media & The Family  
    This paper examines media messages and media experiences in the context of the family.



    Video Game Demographics

    The Entertainment Software Association released the latest stats on the video gaming industry. Some key findings:



    TV's Still The 'Greatest,' But Digital Technology Is Altering Media Preferences

    By Joe Mandese
    Editor, MediaPost  http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_news.cfm?newsID=277407

    Monday, November 08, 2004

    For all the incursions of new digital media, television remains the "greatest" overall 
    media experience among consumers by a margin of nearly two-to-one over the next 
    most dominant medium, the Internet. But asked, which medium they "prefer" the most, 
    more consumers would choose the Internet. These are among the key findings of a 
    new study of consumer preferences for media conducted recently by InsightExpress.

    The research also found that while TV still is the first medium Americans "turn to" and 
    the one they consider "easiest to use," they consider the Internet to be the one that is 
    most "informative," and perhaps more importantly, the one that offers the "greatest control."

    Preferred Over All Others

     
    TV              39% 
    Magazines      2% 
    Newspapers    8%   
    Internet        40% 
    Radio            4% 
    All Are Equal   12% 
    Source: InsightExpress. Base = 500 people surveyed online on Sept. 17, 2004.

    The findings show that all other media - including magazines, newspapers and radio - pale in comparison 
    with TV and the Internet. They also reveal that the next generation of digital media technologies may be 
    tipping the hand in favor of the Internet.

    Among households with digital video recorders - a technology that ostensibly would seem to give consumers 
    more control over and satisfaction with television - respondents were even more disposed toward the Internet.

    While 42 percent of non-DVR owners cited TV as the first medium they "turn to," only 33 percent of DVR owners 
    cited it. Conversely, a greater number (40 percent) of DVR owners said they turn to the Internet first than non-DVR 
    owners (33 percent).

    While the study did not break out how other new media technologies are impacting consumer media preferences 
    per se, Lee Smith, president-COO of InsightExpress, said some might also be tilting preferences in favor of the Internet.