Dmitriy T.M. sent us a report from the Nielsen company of time spent watching TV and using the internet.
We do, of course, want to take into account possible sample bias–the data are based on answers from Nielsen TV and internet panel participants and a survey of cell phone users, and there’s likely some self-selection bias there, with some groups being more likely to participate than others. I know I’ve read about concerns with Nielsen’s data within the entertainment industry.
That said, while I would be cautious about reporting the data as representative of the U.S. overall, the general trends are interesting. People 65+ watched over 47 hours of traditional (non-recorded) TV per week? Can that be possible? The only 65+-year-old whose TV-watching habits I know is my grandma, and she does tend to have the TV on at all times, even when she’s in the kitchen and is just listening, not watching.
According to these data, among those of retirement age, TV watching is basically more than a full-time job. Kids aged 2-11, on the other hand, only have a part-time job watching TV, at about 25 hours per week.
I, of course, had to sit down and calculate my own TV watching, which came out at a little over 6 hours per week when my friends and I have our Friday night TV watching get-together, 3 hours when we don’t. Less than I thought, overall. I am, however, that advertising nightmare, the person who watches 100% of TV online or DVRd, thus reducing the number of commercials I’m exposed to. You can blame me and others like me for the increasing number of product placements you see in TV shows, a way to try to incorporate sponsorship directly into the content rather than in separate commercials that people are finding more ways to skip.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
Comments 11
sarah — March 28, 2010
I love how you compared children's tv watching to a part time job, I found it cute for some reason :)
Lost is the only tv show I watch, so I guess I watch an hour of tv a week, I'll ocassionally watch panel shows if I'm bored, but I'll watch them on bbc iplayer, online. I'd say I never watch more than 2 hrs per week at most. My internet useage is an entirely different matter, I don't even want to think how much time I spend online. It's on in the background even if I'm not using it directly, probably like lots of people with tv.
I like the internet cos you generally have more control over what you see, whereas when I watch tv I surf from channel to channel and most of the time there is nothing on that I find interesting.
Kevin — March 28, 2010
Firefox with AdBlockPlus makes internet usage almost ad-free.
My family watches no TV directly, but does do about 5 hours a week of DVDs or internet TV (Mythbusters, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Macguyver). I find particularly irritating being subjected to ads on DVDs---the main point of buying the DVD is not to have any ads (well, that and higher picture quality)
Alex — March 28, 2010
People in my age group only spend 5 hours a *week* on the internet?
...I wonder if it's possible that I have some kind of internet problem.
queenstuss — March 28, 2010
Overall, screen consumption seems to increase by age. I wonder why someone my age would be watching an average amount of television, and an average amount more internet time, then someone ten years younger.
lex — March 28, 2010
Alex - I'm wondering the same thing! Eesh.
Although, I haven't watched any TV for over two years, so p'raps that balances it out.
:/
adamson — March 31, 2010
People in my age group watch 26 hours of TV a week, but use the internet for only (almost) four hours a week.
I really don't watch that much tv at all... maybe an hour or two a week, unless there's something good on the news or C-Span. But my internet usage is WAY more than that. Try 26 hours a week...
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