A report from ComScore and the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) shows that cross-consumption of TV is growing, and these consumers are spending more time engaging with content.
For the white paper ‘How Multi-Screen Consumers are Changing Media Dynamics’, ComScore and CIMM studied 10 broadcast network cable brands over a five-week period and made new findings about the viewing habits of consumers across multiple devices.
The report found that, though 90pc of consumers engaged with the media brands via TV, 25pc also did so online, and a further 12pc did so through online video.
“While TV remains the leading media channel, once TV-centric media brands now engage with their consumers across a variety of digital touchpoints,” said Joan FitzGerald, ComScore’s vice president of TV and cross-media solutions.
Concurrent viewing on TV and online
The concurrent use of TV and internet was surprisingly high and very common, the study noted. Across the 10 brands studied, 60pc of consumers were online while watching the network at least once during the review period. About half of these consumers (29pc of the total), also accessed Facebook while viewing TV.
Media brands need to sit up and take notice of the users that are engaging with them in this way as the study also found a correlation between online video consumption and overall consumer engagement. Multi-screen consumers spent on average 25pc more time on the platform than TV-only viewers.
An emerging audience
TV-only viewers still account for the majority, with 72pc, but average figures for the emerging multi-screen (17pc) and digital-only (11pc) viewers don’t tell the full story.
A breakdown of content reveals more, as sports, news and young adult networks demonstrated a multi-screen audience share of 30pc, most of whom viewed online and on TV.
Significantly, this report shows that online consumption is not cannibalising TV, but rather that viewers are enhancing their experience with these additional services and engaging more with the content as they do so.
Interactive TV image via Shutterstock
