Media Use Statistics Resources on media habits of children

Media Use Statistics Resources on media habits of children, youth and adults;
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Email Is Top Activity On Smartphones, Ahead Of Web Browsing & Facebook [Study]
smartphone-activities

Source

Here’s a handy chart from Nielsen, breaking down the amount of time we spend in front of various screens each month:

sun.tiff
Source

TV Still Tops, But Multiscreen Viewing Commonplace
A majority of U.S. consumers -- 60% -- still want to watch their shows on TV, but these same consumers also want their smartphones and tablets by their side.

Drilling down to other data, KPMG International said in a new report that in the U.S., 42% of consumers say they watch TV and access the Internet via a laptop or PC, while 17% watch TV and access the Web via a smartphone. The study also found that 22% watch TV and use a social networking site at the same time. (Source)

Nielsen’s 2012 Social Media Report

The percentage of time Americans spent on social networking sites rose 37 percent to 121 billion minutes in the last year.

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

More Americans choose local television news as one of their top three sources for news than any
other form of traditional or new media, according to The Future of News Survey conducted for the
Radio and Television News Directors Foundation. A total of 65.5 percent named local television news,
compared with 28.4 percent who named local newspapers and 28.3 percent who named national network
television news. The Internet was one of the top three choices for 11.2 percent of those surveyed.

The study, conducted by Prof. Bob Papper at Ball State University, included a sample of 1,000 adults --
half under the age of 25. Only 3% said they read a blog daily; only 5% have watched news on a small
screen. Papper said 40% of the TV news directors thought small screen gizmo-viewing was common.
Source: Marketwatch

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:

TV 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.
TV dominates as a news source in the early morning; up to 70 percent of participants
watch television in the evenings.
The study also found that, when using more than one medium at once, consumers paid
significant attention to magazines. Newspapers ranked a distant second, but held a
substantial lead in attracting attention relative to the Internet, radio or television when
more than one medium was used.

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

87% of 8- to 17-year old children play video games at home. More than nine out of ten (92%) boys play video games at home, while 80% of girls say they play at home.
Less than half (47%) of children say their parents understand all of the ESRB ratings.
Only 26% say that a parent has ever stopped them from getting a video game because of its rating (28% boys, 23% girls).
Seven out of 10 children report playing M-rated games.
There are vast differences between boys and girls, with 86% of boys admitting that they play M-rated games compared to 49% of girls.
Almost two-thirds (61%) of children report owning their own M-rated games, up from 56% in 2003. 78% of boys say they own M-rated games.
Almost half of children (45%) say they have bought M-rated games themselves (up from 37% in 2003).
Only 55% of children said a parent was present the last time they bought an M-rated game (down from 65% in 2003).
Almost two-thirds (60%) of children list at least one M-rated game as their favorite (75% of boys and 35% of girls).
Source: http://www.mediafamily.org/research/report_vgrc_2005.shtml

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:

Television: 240.9 minutes
Any computer use: 135.8 minutes
All Internet: 93.4 minutes
Radio: 80.0 minutes
Music [includes MP3 players]: 65.1 minutes
Phone, includes cell: 42.2 minutes
All print media: 32.8 minutes
All video [VCR and DVD]: 32.6 minutes
Newspapers: 12.2 minutes
Game console: 11.6 minutes
(Source: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=89510)

Of all the adults studied, researchers determined that about:

• 91 percent watched television, for an average of nearly 241 minutes a day,
and mostly at home.

• 73 percent listened to the radio, for an average of 80 minutes a day, more
in the car than at home or work, but home-and-work listening combined was
a higher percentage of usage than in-car listening.

• 73 percent used a computer, for an average of nearly 136 minutes a day,
more at work than at home.

• 63 percent read newspapers, books or magazines, averaging nearly 33 minutes
a day, mostly at home, but a sizable number did so at work or other locations.

• 59 percent used mobile phones, more at work than any other location, for an
average of nearly 11 minutes, and 32 percent used a variety of video products,
mostly at home, for an average of nearly 33 minutes.

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

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:

34% of people under the age of 18 play computer or video games; 46% of 18-50 year-olds
The top selling video game genres: 27.1% action, 17.6% sports, 11.3% racing, 8.7% role-playing,
8.6% first-person shooters, 6.9% fighting and 4.7% family entertainment.
Ratings game: 30.5% of computer and video game sales in 2003 were for "T" rated games (13+ years of age);
up from 27.6% in 2002. "M" rated (17+ years of age) game sales dropped to 11.9% in 2003 from 13.2% in 2002.
"E" rated (all ages) games dropped to 54.0% in 2003 from 55.7% in 2002.
http://www.theesa.com/EFBrochure.pdf (9 page pdf file)
See also: Video games crowding out TV and movies
http://www.theesa.com/5_12_2004.html
See also: Media consumption study
http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,,18107--,00.html
See also: Boys prefer video games to toys
http://www.npdfunworld.com/funServlet?nextpage=news_article.html&nwsid=6384

Source: http://www.cpyu.org/pageview.asp?PageID=8701

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.

"My but as a researcher is that broadband households would be slightly more favorable about the Internet," he said.

"What this is telling us is that people value control. They value the information content on the Internet and I think
it's only a matter of time before the broadband capacity of the Internet catches up and drives the entertainment value
of the Internet making it more competitive with television."

Consumer Preferences By Media Attribute

 
              Provides       Is The    Gives Me    Is The    Is the 
              Greatest         Most   Greatest     First I     Easiest 
            Experience  Informative    Control   Turn On   To Use 
TV                  46%          20%        22%       40%       42% 
Magazines         3%           5%           3%        1%        3% 
Newspapers       3%          23%         9%       12%        7% 
Internet           27%          37%        49%       34%       24% 
Radio                3%           4%          2%         9%        7% 
All Are Equal      18%          11%        15%        5%       17%

Source: InsightExpress. Base = 500 people surveyed online on Sept. 17, 2004.

Read Gallup Poll (Oct.2004) on Teen Leisure Habits: TV Still On Top

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A new brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that while more students from
incomes and backgrounds are using computers and the Internet, disparities continue
to exist in the quality of access (broadband versus dial-up, for example) and in the
nature of the activities and work students are engaged in online.
The thought-provoking report "Children, the Digital Divide, and Federal Policy"
is available online at http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia091604pkg.cfm

These days teenagers (33 million of them in 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau)
and technology are a powerful mix. According to a 2003 study from the Consumer
Electronics Association, 84 percent of teens ages 13-17 strongly agree that new
technology gives them access to information that improves their life, 75 percent enjoy
the challenge of figuring out high-tech gadgets and 55 percent says electronic gadgets
allow them to make a statement about who they are.
Quoted in: AdWeek (July 2004)
http://www.adweek.com/aw/regional/southwest/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000575212

Both charts above from: http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2787854

Three Out of Four Americans Have Access to the Internet (March 2004)

U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., spoke at length last week (Feb.2004) about protecting
children from violent and indecent programming. Here are some numbers he presented
to back up his case:
8,000 Number of TV murders the average child will witness before completing elementary school
100,000 Number of acts of violence on TV the average child will witness before completing elementary school
300 Number of studies demonstrating a link between media violence and violent, aggressive, anti-social behavior in children
9% Portion of parents of children aged 2-17 who own a TV with a V-chip
39% Portion of parents of children aged 2-17 that have never heard of the V-chip
79% Portion of TV shows containing violence that did not receive the appropriate “V” rating
SOURCES: Congressional Research Service, Kaiser Family Foundation surveys

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Children's Bedrooms Are Media Havens -
Almost Two-Thirds Have a TV, 17% a PC; Significant Effects Seen on Media Habits

Knowledge Networks/SRI study shows that kids with own-room technologies
combine media more often, have less supervision

Menlo Park, CA; October 6, 2003: According to a just-released Knowledge Networks/SRI study,
almost two-thirds (61%) of children now have a television set in their bedrooms, 17% have their
own PC - and own-room access to such media technologies is linked to substantial changes in how kids use media.

The new report, "How Children Use™ Media Technology," is part of the ongoing service
"The Home Technology Monitor™," which combines semi-annual nationwide surveys of media technology
ownership with special reports on key devices and services. These special reports are usually based
on Knowledge Networks/SRI's exclusive "How People Use®" media methodology, a proven
technique for studying the quality of media exposures.

Based on interviews with 245 children ages 8 to 17, the new study also shows that 35% of kids
have videogame systems in their rooms, 14% have their own DVD player, and 9% have Internet
access via a PC in their bedrooms. And the presence of these technologies correlates with
significant changes in media behavior; for example, among children with an own-room television:

46% do at least half of their TV viewing on that set;
75% report multitasking while watching TV (vs. 65% of kids without their own sets);
43% have visited a Web site as the result of a TV ad within the past week
(vs. 24% of kids without their own TVs); and
50% say they have parental rules for their TV use (vs. 61% of kids without their own sets).

The relatively few kids with own-room Internet access also report substantial effects on their media use:

57% say all of their Internet use takes place in their rooms; and
61% report having parental rules restricting their Web use, compared to 69% of
Internet-using kids who do not have own-room Web connections.

Study: Baby boomers are still fond of traditional methods in high tech age

Internet Use Annual Report ( UCLA Center for Communication Policy)
http://ccp.ucla.edu/pages/internet-report.asp

MEDIA MULTI-TASKING (NOV. 2002)

Media Multi-Tasking

Americans have become well known for their ability to multi-task. A new study, by BIGresearch,
has found that Americans have begun multi-tasking in a new arena - media. The study, which measures
simultaneous media usage (when consumers use a primary media source while a secondary source is in use),
may change how marketers reach their target audiences. According to the Simultaneous Media Usage Study,
roughly half of consumers engage in simultaneous media usage.

Study results included information such as:

69% of males and 76% of females have the TV on while online
51% of males and 52% of females read magazines when they have the radio on
53% of males and 59% of females watch TV when they read the newspaper
50% of males and 60% of females watch TV when they read magazines
67% of males and 74% of females read the newspaper while they have the TV on

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

Recent Industry Research: Simultaneous Media Usage (provided by PBS)
In today's world, consumers live in a networked, interactive, and multi-media environment.
Simultaneous media usage is a reality for approximately 50% of the population.
What is simultaneous media? People using various types of media - - such as the TV
and computer -- simultaneously.

The Simultaneous Media Usage Study (SIMM) Survey, published twice annually by
BIGresearch, quantifies how the public consumes multiple media. The latest survey,
conducted from March 25 to April 22, 2003, included data from 12,230 respondents.

Some of the findings show that:

33% of males and 36% of females regularly watch TV while they are online
· 24% of males and 29% of females regularly go online when they are watching TV
·17% of males and 22% of females regularly watch TV when they read the mail

When asked what they do when a television commercial come on:

15% of the population regularly leave the room
·30% mentally tune out
·30% regularly watch, but not with full attention
·31% regularly channel surf
·32% regularly talk with others in the room or on the phone

US youngsters hooked on to Net, TV say researchers

Indiantelevision.com Team

(16 August 2003 )

NEW YORK: Most teenagers and young adults in the US prefer surfing the Internet or
watching television over reading for recreation, the US-based Centre for Media Research
quoted from an eMarketer report recently.

The report stated that Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited surveyed
2,618 people in the age group of 13 to 24 in June, and found that respondents spend
twice as much time per week watching TV as reading books or magazines for pleasure.

The survey, done for Yahoo! and Carat, gave the following figures:

Activity	Hours per week
Internet surfing	16.7
Watching TV	13.6
Radio	12
Talking on phone	7.7
Reading books/magazines	6

The survey said that the main reason cited among respondents for spending so much time
online was the quality of "control" the Internet affords users. Users can personalize and
manage their experience online more so than with any other form of media.

As for the type of website most in demand, teens between the ages of 12 and 17 spend
an average of 26.6 minutes each day with instant messaging (IM) applications,
24.4 minutes per day with game sites and a whopping 41.5 minutes per day on sites
with some sort of corporate presence, comScore Media Metrix determined at the end of 2002.

eMarketer stated that by the end of 2003, roughly 17 per cent of US Internet users
will be in nine to 17 age group and about 29 per cent in the 18 and 34 age group.

Born to Be Wired: Understanding the First Wired Generation
36 page report (July 2003) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/promo/btbw_2003/btbw_execsum.pdf
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from the September 2002 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine, page 250

When it comes to their daily does of media, boys and girls have slightly different appetites,
reports the Kaiser Family Foundation.

boys watch television an average 2 hours 56 minutes a day; slightly more than girl's
average of 2 hours 36 minutes.
Between the ages of 10 and 17, boys are more likely to watch TV daily than are
girls (81 percent vs. 75 percent), reports Children Now, a California group that tracks media usage.
boys are more likely to watch sports and cartoons, while girls are more likely to
check out talk shows. They share a love for music videos:
49 percent of kids say they watch these daily
boys spend just over a half an hour a day playing video games, while girls play only
8 minutes a day. And on a typical day, one out of every four boys will play an action
game, such as Doom or Duke Nukem.
Girls spend more time than boys listening to CDs and tapes (56 minutes per day vs. 41 minutes);
and listening to the radio (42 minutes vs. 36 minutes)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source for this graphic: http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/growup.htm

Bar graph showing Activities that kids engage in online at least weekly

Information presented in the above exhibit was found in two sources:

Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (2003). Connected to the future: A report on children's Internet use. Retrieved April 7, 2003, from http://www.cpb.org/ed/resources/connected/.

Grunwald Associates. (2000). Children, families, and the Internet. Burlingame, CA: Author.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Television viewing:

Children aged 2-5 average 25 hours per week watching TV.
Source: AC Nielsen Co., 1990

Children aged 6-11 average more than 22 hours per week watching TV.
Source: AC Nielsen Co., 1990

Children aged 12-17 average 23 hours per week watching TV.
Source: AC Nielsen Co., 1990

30% of middle-aged men (median age in the study was 39.5) watch TV 3 or more
hours per day, while another 61% watch TV 1-2 hours per day.
Source: 1989 study by Larry Tucker at Brigham Young University
.
"By the time most Americans are 18 years old, they have spent more time in front
of the television set than they have spent in school, and far more than they have
spent talking with their teachers, their friends or even their parents."
Quote from Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television and the First Amendment,
by Newton Minnow, former Chairman of the FCC, and Craig LaMay, 1995

"By first grade, most children have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of the TV set."
Quote from Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television and the First Amendment, by
Newton Minnow, former Chairman of the FCC, and Craig LaMay, 1995
.
62% of fourth graders say they spend more than three hours per day watching TV.
Source: Educational Testing Service study, 1990

64% of eighth graders report watching more than three hours of TV per day.
Source: Educational Testing Service study, 1990
.
By the time today's child reaches age 70, he or she will have spent approximately seven years watching TV.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics study, 1990

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More sources for detailed information on media usage:

Media Use Among Online Users

Children, Adolescents, and Television This American Academy of Pediatrics policy
statement explores children's TV viewing habits and the potential health hazards of too much TV time.

Children Now    Diversity, Gender studies

Children's Programming Survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center

Commercial Alert

Internet and the Family by the Annenberg Public Policy Center

Kaiser Family Foundation    Kids & Media at the New Millenium
Children & Video Games     Survey on Teens, Sex & TV         2003 Sex on TV Story

Media In The Home National Survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center

Mediascope- raising awareness about media and society

National Institute on Media & The Family- helping families and educators maximize
the benefits and minimize the harm of mass media on children through research, education and advocacy

Quick Facts: Media Awareness Network

TV Turnoff Network-facts and figures

Recommended Texts

Publisher: Sage Publications;
ISBN: 0761921257;
(March 2002)

The Penguin Atlas of Media & Information
Format: Paperback, 128pp.
ISBN: 0142000175
Publisher: Penguin USA

Publisher: Sage Publications; ISBN: 0761919554; (July 2002)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW STUDY FINDS KIDS SPEND EQUIVALENT OF
FULL WORK WEEK USING MEDIA

Many Kids Have Multi-Media Bedrooms, TV on During Dinner, and No Rules

Time Spent With Computers Lags Far Behind TV and Music

New York, NY - The typical American child spends an average of more than 38 hours a week - nearly five and a half hours a day (5:29) - consuming media outside of school, according to a major national study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.  That amount is even higher - nearly six and three-quarter hours a day (6:43) - for kids eight and older. The study - Kids & Media @ The New Millennium - examined media use among a nationally representative sample of more than 3,000 children ages 2-18, including more than 600 who completed detailed media use diaries. The study included children's use of  television, computers, video games, movies, music and print media.

"Watching TV, playing video games, listening to music and surfing the Internet have become a full-time job for the typical American child," said Drew Altman, Ph.D., president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.  "This study really underscores the importance of paying attention to the messages and the information kids are getting from the media, both good and bad."

The study also found that many parents are not exercising much control over their children's media use:  among kids eight and older, two-thirds (65%) have a TV in their bedroom and say the TV is usually on during meals in their home, and nearly that many (61%) say their parents have set no rules about TV watching.   Parents watch TV with their kids in this age range just 5% of the time.  Nearly one out of every four kids in this age group (24%) spends more than five hours a day watching TV.

Even the youngest kids are dedicating a big chunk of their day to media use.  According to their parents, kids in the 2-7 year-old age range spend an average of three and a half hours a day using media.  Even among these younger kids, one in three (32%) has a TV in their bedroom.  More than a third (35%) of parents of 2-7 year-olds say the TV is on in their homes "most of the time" and almost half (47%) say it is usually on during meals.  Parents watch TV with their young kids just 19% of the time.

Computers.  Nearly seven in ten kids (69%) have a computer at home and nearly half (45%) have Internet access from home.  Among kids eight and older, one in five (21%) has a computer in their bedroom.  But despite this widespread access to computers, kids still spend a comparatively small amount of time with computers, averaging less than half an hour a day (:21) using a computer for fun, compared to two and three quarters hours a day (2:46) watching TV. "Computers may be the wave of the future, but TV still dominates kids' time and attention today," said Vicky Rideout, director of the Foundation's Program on the Entertainment Media and Public Health.

There are significant disparities in computer use among children from different economic circumstances:  in a typical day, half (50%) of all kids who live in or go to school in higher income communities use a computer, while only 29% of those from lower income areas do.   Schools are helping bridge that gap:  students are equally likely to use a computer in class whether they go to school in a low (32%) or a higher income (30%) community.

Contrary to popular perception, the study did not find evidence of large numbers of children spending hours a day playing computer games or surfing the Internet.  Less than one in ten kids (9%) spends more than an hour a day using a computer for fun, including 3% who spend more than an hour online and 2% who spend more than an hour playing computer games.  By contrast, nearly two-thirds of kids (64%) spend more than an hour a day -- and 17% spend more than five hours a day -- watching TV.

"Heavy" media users.  The study identified a subset of children in the 8-18 year-old range who are classified as "heavy" media users - those who spend more than ten and a half hours a day using media.  About one in six kids (16%) falls into this category.

Most kids in this age group report that they have lots of friends, are happy at school, get along well with their parents, don't get into trouble a lot, and are not often bored, sad or unhappy.  On a "contentedness index" summarizing self-reports on these issues, most children appear well-adjusted.  However, those children identified by the study as "heavy" media users score lower on the index than those children who use less media.  The study cannot determine whether heavy use of media causes kids to be less content, whether discontent contributes to children spending more time with media, or whether some other factors cause both effects.  However, even when controlling for factors such as race, age, family composition and income of the community in which the child attends school, indicators of discontent are associated with high media use.

Other media.  According to the study, music is a dominant force in kids' lives.  Young people spend an average of almost an hour and a half a day (1:27) listening to CDs, tapes or the radio.  "After TV, music is the medium of choice for most kids, especially older teens," said Donald F. Roberts, Jr., Ph.D., professor of communication at Stanford University and an author of the study.

While the study confirms that electronic media dominate young people's time, it also indicates that reading for pleasure is still a staple in most kids' lives.  More than eight in 10 kids (82%) will read for fun each day, averaging nearly three quarters of an hour (:44) a day (excluding time spent reading in school or for homework). But kids still spend more than five times as much time in front of a TV, computer or video game screen each day than they do reading (4:06 v. :44).

Methodology:  The study is based on a nationally representative sample of 3,155 children ages 2-18, including more than 2,000 written questionnaires completed by children 8 and older, more than 1,000 in-home interviews with parents of 2-7 year-olds, and more than 600 week-long media use diaries maintained by parents (for 2-7 year olds) or kids (for 8-18 year-olds).  The surveys and diaries were completed between November 10, 1998 and April 20, 1999.  The study was designed by Kaiser Family Foundation staff in consultation with Stanford University Professor Donald F. Roberts, Jr. and Harris Interactive, Inc. (formerly Louis Harris & Associates).  The data were collected by Harris Interactive, and the results were analyzed by Foundation staff and Professor Roberts.  The margin of error for the combined sample of children 2-18 is +/- 3%; for children 8 and older it is +/- 3%; and for children 2-7 it is +/- 5%.  The study e xamines children's non-school use of television, videos, movies, video games, CDs and tapes, radio, books, magazines, newspapers and computers.  Children or parents completed detailed questionnaires regarding the child's use of these media the previous day.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, is an independent national health care philanthropy, and is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.  This study is a project of the Foundation's Program on the Entertainment Media & Public Health, which was established to examine the impact of entertainment media on society, and to work with the entertainment industry on important public health issues.

To order a copy of the full study (publication #1536), executive summary (#1535), or appendices (#1537) on which this release is based, call the Kaiser Family Foundation's publication request line at 800-656-4533, or review them online at www.kff.org.

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Kids & Media @ the New Millennium:
A Kaiser Family Foundation Report
Key Data

Amount of time children spend using media each day, on average:1

All kids 2-18   5:29
2-7 year-olds   3:34
8 and older     6:43

Amount of time kids spend each day, on average:2

Watching TV              2:46
Listening to music       1:27
Reading for fun           :44
Watching videos           :39
Using a computer for fun :21
Playing video games       :20
Online                    :08

Percent of kids who spend more than an hour a day:

Watching TV                  64%
Reading for pleasure         20%
Listening to CDs or tapes    19%
Listening to the radio       17%
Using a computer for fun      9%
Playing video games           8%
Online                        3%
Playing computer games        2%

Amount of time kids spend each week, on average:3

Watching TV             19:19
Listening to music      10:04
Reading                  5:15
Using a computer for fun 2:29
Playing video games      2:17

Percent of kids who have a TV in their bedroom:

All kids 2-18           53%
2-7 year-olds           32%
8 and older             65%

Percent of kids who use a computer in a day:

All kids 2-18           42%
2-7 year-olds           26%
8 and older             51%

Percent of kids who have a computer in the home:

All kids 2-18       69%
2-7 year-olds       62%
8 and older         73%
Lower income4        49%
Upper income        81%

Percent of kids who have a computer in their bedroom:

All kids 2-18       16%
2-7 year-olds        6%
8 and older         21%

Percent of school-aged children who use a computer in a typical day, by income:4

In school:
Lower income        32%
Upper income        30%

Out of school:
Lower income        23%
Upper income        48%

Parental oversight:

Percent of kids…

With no rules about TV:   49%

In homes where TV is
usually on during meals:   58%

Percent of time parents watch TV with their kids:5
2-7 year-olds:      19%
8-18 year-olds:      5%

Time is presented in hours:minutes.

Times cannot be summed, due to use of more than one medium at a time.
Week-long averages are based on mean times with each medium, separating out weekday and weekend reports. Times cannot be summed due use of more than one medium at a time.
Income categories are based on the median income of the zip code in which the child lives (for 2-7 year-olds) or goes to school (for 8-18 year-olds), and represents the following ranges: "low income" is less than $25,000, and "high income" is $40,000 or more.
Based on media-use diaries.

Pass the Remote…and the Tablet: Media Study Detects Boost in TV, Mobile Use
According to an eMarketer study of U.S. adult media habits, Americans spent an average of four hours and 34 minutes per day in front of the tube, up 10 minutes from last year (2010).

Top Genres of Mobile Video Consumption by Reach – Mobile Video Users Ages 13-17

Mobile Media Usage by US Teens – 13-17 Mobile Users

Average Number of Monthly Texts vs. Phone Calls – US Mobile Teens Ages 13-17

US TV Viewing at All Time High

Nielsen: Kids watching TV at eight-year high

Only 88% of US Youth Have Internet Access

DVR USE ESCALATES

More evidence of teen and pre-teen multi-tasking

Pass the Remote…and the Tablet: Media Study Detects Boost in TV, Mobile Use According to an eMarketer study of U.S. adult media habits, Americans spent an average of four hours and 34 minutes per day in front of the tube, up 10 minutes from last year (2010).