Video viewing time jumped 30% in last decade

Study: Will expand another 35% by 2013

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 6/11/2008

JUNE 11 | Americans in Web-enabled homes have increased their hours spent watching video entertainment by 30% over the last decade, according to a study by Solutions Research Group.

Today, these consumers enjoy on average 6.1 hours daily of media content, spanning TV, video-on-demand, videogames, PCs, DVDs and mobile video, as found in Solutions Research’s ‘Multiplatform Video Report.’ That compares to 4.6 hours of daily consumption in 1996.

The biggest chunk of that time, 63.9%, is spent with TV, which encompasses live, recorded and VOD viewing. The remaining time is spent with videogames, PCs, DVDs and mobile devices.

Solutions Research projects that total hours with video entertainment will expand 35% to eight hours per day by 2013. That growth will be primarily spurred by newer media technologies, as TV will account for a lesser 47.1% of media consumption by 2013. By that point, consumers will have access to display screens in more places as technology becomes more portable.

For example, user’s Web and mobile video time will jump from its current one hour per day to about 2.9 hours by 2013. That will be fueled by expanding use of laptops and other mobile devices such as iPhones, according to Solutions Research.

Elsewhere in the study, Solutions Research reports that among younger consumers ages 12 to 24, TV takes up relatively less video time, at 42.4%, than the average population’s 63.9%. Looking at gender, TV makes up 70.4% of women’s entertainment time and 57.7% of men's. PC or online video use broke down to 10.1% of daily time for men and 10.5% for women.