Television use down because internet use

Studies confirm suspicions that Internet use comes partly at the expense of television viewing.

“We find that about 60 percent of those who use the Internet more than five hours a week are telling us it is coming out of their TV time. Even among those who spend only a few hours a week on the net, a quarter tell us it cuts into their TV viewing,” said Erbring, who is a professor of mass communications spending a sabbatical at the Stanford institute and teaching social research methods in the Department of Communication. “This trend is likely to have a major impact on the economics of the media industry and, as recent developments suggest, may lead to further integration of media and information delivery technologies.”

Internet users also report spending less time reading newspapers. “Of course, it may be that they are reading news on the web, so they don’t read hard copy any more,” he added.

Television has consumed a much bigger chunk of people’s time than newspapers (prensa escrita online), however, so it is in greater competition with the Internet for time, he said. “If you spend two or three hours a day on the net, those are two or three hours you don’t have for watching television,” Erbring said. “You can’t surf the web and watch TV at the same time.”

In the near future, people may be able to view a television program on the same screen where they are working on the Internet simultaneously. “It’s too early to tell if people will do this sort of multi-tasking as part of their daily routine, but even if they do, their attention will be fragmented, because Internet use demands more concentration”.