NEW YORK : Teenagers and young adults in the US spend more time on the Internet than watching television. This denotes a shift in media consumption for a demographic that is considered crucial by advertisers, says a new study.
The survey of 2,618 people, aged 13 to 24, was conducted by independent research firms Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited in mid-June on behalf of Yahoo and media services company Carat North America..
A Reuters report states that on average, young people said they spent nearly 17 hours online each week, not including time used to read and send electronic mail, compared with almost 14 hours spent watching television and 12 hours listening to the radio, the study said.
Most of the youth polled said that they were also likely to be engaging in other activities while using the Internet, such as listening to radio or talking on the telephone. Many said they were most likely to look on the Internet for information on movie and music reviews or celebrity news.
"While other generations are more likely to be wed to a single type of media, today's teens and young adults are not overwhelmed by the abundance of media choices...but rather feel empowered by it and are able to multi-task," the study said.
Yahoo's chief sales officer Wenda Harris Millard was quoted in the report as saying that teens and young adults are using the Internet as the "hub" of their media activity. "There is a lot in the study that shows this is a primary medium for information, product information, pricing information, school needs. It would never occur to them to go to a newspaper to look up a movie time" she said.