Multichannel News:
Mobile phone users, particularly younger demos, aren't waiting around
for traditional TV to catch up with their desire for on-screen
interactivity.
That is according to a new study from the Pew
Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, which found that
half of all adult cellphone owners are "connected viewers," employing
their phones to supplement their TV viewing, or what Pew calls
"engagement, diversion or interaction." That "connected viewer" figure
jumps to 81% for users 18-24, but is strong across the board, with 72%
of adults 25-34 connected viewers and 60% of those 35-44. Percentages
drop below 50% from there, with only 16% seniors 65-plus phoning it in.
The
study, conducted March 15-April 3 among 2,254 adults 18-plus, found
that users tapped into their phones for a variety of reasons during
TV-watching, including over a third (38%) who used them during
commercial breaks to "keep themselves occupied." According to study
co-author Aaron Smith, the study did not drill down to find out what
they were doing during the commercial breaks, so it is possible they
could have been reacting to or following up something they saw in an ad,
he said, rather than ignoring the ad altogether.
According to the
study, 23% used their phones to text someone who is watching the same
show; 22% used the phone to visit a website mentioned on TV (either in
the programming or ads); 11% surfed the Web to see what others were
saying online about the show -- the same percentage said they posted
their own online comments about it -- and 6% said they sometimes used
the phone to vote for a reality show contestant.
"Television
audiences are actively primed to participate," said co-author/research
intern Jan Lauren Boyles, "and these connected viewers are using mobile
devices to debate, learn, and engage with programming and each other."
Connected
viewers skew upscale and urban, with households earning $50,000 or
more, more likely to be turning their TV viewing interactive via their
phones, and urban (54%) and suburban (52%) more likely than rural to be
turning their viewing experience into a social one, though with a margin
of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, the gap is not much
beyond that margin.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/487293-Most_TV_Watchers_Use_Phones_for_Interactivity_Pew.php
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