- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
LONDON – For the first time ever, U.K. consumers will this year spend more time on digital media, via desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones, than on viewing television, according to a forecast from research firm eMarketer.
The study estimating the media consumption of British adults concluded that growth of mobile is the key driver. Meanwhile, time spent on desktops and laptops is plateauing, according to eMarketer.
The average U.K. adult will spend more than 8.5 hours each day consuming media in 2014, it predicts. Of that, 3 hours 41 minutes per day will on average be spent on digital media, compared with 3 hours 15 minutes spent watching TV.
The estimates include simultaneous media consumption. For example, if someone uses a mobile device for an hour while watching TV, it counts as an hour for each medium. eMarketer’s forecast doesn’t predict where consumers’ primary focus lies in such cases. Online time via desktops and laptops will reach 1 hour and 52 minutes this year, four minutes more than in 2013.
Concluded eMarketer: “In a broad sense, media consumption time is flat with one exception: mobile.”
“Time spent with mobile (that is, via smartphone, tablet or feature phone) has come to represent more than half of TV’s share of total media time, as well as nearly half of digital media time as a whole,” it said. “The bulk of mobile time is spent on smartphones, at almost one hour per day, but tablets are not far behind.”
Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day