Americans Spend 11 Hours 27 Minutes Daily on Media, Up 21 Minutes
Americans' appetite for media keeps expanding, reveals Nielsen's Q1 2019 Total Audience Report. Adults in the U.S. averaged 11 hours 27 minutes on media per day in Q1, up 21 minutes from Q1 2018. The biggest gainer was app- or web-based content on a phone, up 39 minutes. The biggest decline came from live TV, which fell by 17 minutes. Americans are also spending less time with radio, time-shifted TV, and the internet accessed through a computer.
Nielsen finds Americans are spending less time on video, despite the boom in streaming services. In Q1 2018, U.S adults averaged 5 hours and 57 minutes daily on video. In Q1 2019, that fell to 5 hours 46 minutes. Live and time-shifted viewing, by far the biggest area, fell by 19 minutes, while watching through TV-connected devices, the second biggest area, grew by 8 minutes.
Don't be alarmed by the decline in video viewing, Nielsen cautions, as the Winter Olympics took place in Q1 2018, giving a bump to that quarter.
The report also breaks down how long different age groups search for something to watch on a streaming service. The average adult looks for 7.4 minutes before making a choice.
Nielsen's figures come from a sample of over 40,000 homes. For more results, The Nielsen Total Audience Report Q1 2019 is available for purchase.
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