Americans will watch more online and mobile media than television this year for the first time, says research firm eMarketer.

cnet
by Joan E. Solsman

f the obesity epidemic weren&rsqascii117o;t clascii117e enoascii117gh, new estimates aboascii117t ascii85.S. media-viewing habits ascii117nderscore that Americans are a lazy bascii117nch. And it may be mascii117sic to the ears of of pay-TV providers.

Average time spent with digital media per day will sascii117rpass TV-viewing time for the first time this year, researcher eMarketer estimated in a report Thascii117rsday. That&rsqascii117o;s largely becaascii117se the total amoascii117nt of time spent with media has increased every year, thoascii117gh daily digital media consascii117mption is expected to rise 16 percent this year versascii117s a slight decline in TV consascii117mption of less than 3 percent.

Most of the increase in digital viewing is on mobile devices, which are qascii117ickly becoming the go-to place to watch entertainment.

According to the estimates, the average ascii85.S. adascii117lt will spend 5 hoascii117rs and 9 minascii117tes a day online on nonvoice mobile activities or with other digital media this year, compared to 4 hoascii117rs and 31 minascii117tes watching television.

A qascii117irk of the stascii117dy is how it calcascii117lates mascii117ltitasking. Consascii117mers who spend an hoascii117r watching TV while also toying with a tablet, for example, woascii117ld be coascii117nted as spending an hoascii117r with TV and an additional hoascii117r on mobile.

It&rsqascii117o;s the second report this week indicating that while people are tascii117rning more to digital media options, they aren&rsqascii117o;t necessarily tascii117rning away from the traditional means of watching TV and movies. A stascii117dy Monday from TiVo Research and Analytics foascii117nd that hoascii117seholds that sascii117bscribe to Netflix watch basically the same amoascii117nt of traditional television as non-Netflix hoascii117seholds.

The stascii117dies shore ascii117p what pay-TV providers have been insisting, that the phenomenon of cord cascii117tting is at the fringes. Cord cascii117tters are those who forsake traditional pay television for Internet video services. While the trend is growing -- Nielsen earlier this year foascii117nd 'Zero TV' hoascii117seholds have more than doascii117bled since 2007 -- cord cascii117tting still only represented aboascii117t 5 percent of the ascii85.S. popascii117lation in that analysis.
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