Death of TV somewhat exaggerated

It is a dearly held wish in Webland that the TV dies as a media, and all that attention (and resulting Ad dollars) flow into the online economy. Well, don't hold your breath, TV is doing just fine. While we were researching for our work on the Future of Online Video we found that TV viewing had hardly declined at all due to net usage in recent years, and formal confirmation of this comes from a Nielsen report today (reported today on Wired):

As of third quarter 2008, the average person in the U.S. watched approximately 142 hours of TV in one month [up 5 hours on a year ago]. In addition, people who used the Internet were online 27 hours a month, and people who used a mobile phone spent 3 hours a month watching mobile video. Furthermore, the average time a U.S. home used a TV set during the 2007-08 television season was up to 8 hours and 18 minutes per day, a record high since Nielsen started measuring television in the 1950’s

So - 3 / 27 / 142 hours, and assuming the customer value to be roughly equal that equates to roughly 2%, 15%, 83% of attention. Given that US online advertising is close to that (or not, e-Marketer again slashing its 3 months ago slashed estimate another 1/3rd a week ago) its not got far to grow.

However, as well as watching more TV, people are also using the Internet more often – 31% of which is happening simultaneously. I await combined TV/Laptop ads with eager anticipation.

Other key facts from the report include:

- Americans spend more than 6 hours per month watching timeshifted TV, which is more than double the amount of time they watch video online.

- Men are more likely than women to watch video on mobile phones, while women are more likely then men to watch video on the Internet.

- During the third quarter, there was no shortage of online video content with events including the Olympics, Major League baseball games, the political conventions and debates, and the financial crisis. Online video use grew steadily through the quarter.

TV remains the dominant choice for most Americans, yet timeshifting as well as videos on the Internet and on mobile phones, continue to be the trends to watch.