Zenith: gap between TV and web narrowing

The gap between TV and internet consumption will narrow to just seven minutes in 2019, according to new research by Zenith Media.

The Publicis Media-owned ad agency said that traditional broadcast TV is still the largest single medium by consumption time, averaging 170 minutes of viewing per day this year, compared to 140 minutes for the internet.

However, third annual Media Consumption Forecasts notes that traditional media consumption is on the decline as mobile internet use continues to climb.

Zenith said that traditional media consumption has fallen 13% over the last seven years, but will still account for 69% of global media consumption in 2017.

Defined as broadcast TV and radio, printed newspapers and magazines, and cinema and outdoor advertising, people are expected to spend an average of 316 minutes a day with traditional media this year, down from 364 in 2010.

Mobile internet consumption, on the other hand, has increased at an average rate of 44% a year between 2010 and 2016, driven by the spread of mobiles, improvements in technology and greater availability of mobile-adapted content, according to the report.

“Some of this extra consumption time was cannibalised from traditional media, but the spread of mobile technology has given a boost to overall media consumption by allowing users to access more media, in more places, and at more times than ever before,” said Zenith Media.

“The average person spent 456 minutes consuming media in 2016, up from 411 minutes in 2010 – that’s an average increase of 2% a year.”

Zenith predicts that mobile internet use will account for 26% of global media consumption in 2019, up from 19% in 2016, with people around the world expected to spend an average of 122 minutes a day accessing the mobile web.

The amount of time people spent accessing the internet by desktop peaked in 2014, and in 2015 mobile overtook desktop to become the world’s primary point of access to the internet, according to the research.

Zenith’s Media Consumption Forecasts looks at changing patterns of media consumption and forecasts how the amount of time people allocate to different media will change between 2017 and 2019, in 71 countries across the world.