Survey: Americans Use the Internet More Than They Watch TV

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Survey: Americans Use the Internet More Than They Watch TV



For the first time, a survey has shown that Americans of all ages spend more time on the Internet than in front of the TV.

Young people have been flocking to their laptops and computers rather than sit in front of the TV for the last few years, but the survey released by Forrester Research showed that older Americans are starting to shift their leisure time away from the TV as well. These results seem to suggest that the practice of cutting the cord from cable providers and consuming all content over the Internet, whether through movie streaming services like Netflix or TV streaming websites like Hulu, is gaining traction. The survey results from Forrester show that more people are using the Internet to watch video, 33% of adults said they do so now, as opposed to only 18% in 2007. According to Jacqueline Anderson who wrote the report for Forrester, young people are becoming more accustomed to watching TV online.

"For the younger population, the TV is still important, but where they're getting that content from is changing," said Anderson. "For the generations that are coming up, that's where we're going to see the cut."

Internet use is still the province of the young, with people under 30 spending 12 hours a week connected to the 'tubes. Grandma, Grandpa, and other people over 66 years of age, spend around 8 hours a week on the Internet, but this time is spent with more typical browsing than video watching. Anecdotal evidence suggests that my Grandma's farm is "really beautiful."

I believe that this data is the beginning of the end for TV. There will always be a place for having a large selection of broadcast channels from which to choose, but I think that people want to watch what they want to watch when they want to watch it. And that means the Internet will only continue to grow as a vehicle for video and other content.

Source: NY Times [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/american-internet-use-catches-up-with-tv-use/]

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SomebodyNowhere

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Dec 9, 2009
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Guilty as charged. While there is still the occasional TV show I do watch, the majority of my time is spent watching things on the computer. Hell, if there's a show I want to see and end up missing I can usually just watch it online.
 

Distorted Stu

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Sep 22, 2009
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I do the same and i live in the UK. TV is such an idiot box, i only watch stuff if i have to or if its only source of entertainment.. but then it susually just Top Gear, good film or some epic cartoon
 

The Wykydtron

"Emotions are very important!"
Sep 23, 2010
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Yeah I retired from watching TV like 2 years ago, such a failbox. Apparently American TV is worse than UK TV... How is this possible?
 

Colonel Alzheimer's

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Jan 3, 2010
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That's a pretty impressive statistic. Personally, I've used the internet more than the TV for years, but I never thought that we Americans could be separated from our TVs to this extent.
 

Naheal

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Sep 6, 2009
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I saw this coming. Several households that I see now are eliminating their TVs altogether (aside from use for a console) and using their individual computers to get access to entertainment that they want.
 

killamanhunter

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Mar 24, 2009
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Colonel Alzheimer said:
but I never thought that we Americans could be separated from our TVs to this extent.
Keyword: Americans

Anyway: I don't see much of a difference, either way we're sitting on our ass and munching on cheetoes
 

(whitty name here)

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Apr 20, 2009
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I'm mot american, but I've almost completely stopped watching TV. It has the most retarded, nothing shows on it, theres just no reason to have it except for my consoles.

Maybe if the shows were less garbage, i would go back.
 

hansari

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May 31, 2009
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I hate to the suit that couldn't see this coming.

I mean people love convenience. And whats more convenient; negotiating your busy schedule to so you can watch that one show you love so much, or just watching it online whenever you have free time.

Now if only advertisers would hurry the hell up with this realization.
 

Snotnarok

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Nov 17, 2008
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I gave up on TV when trying to watch Battle Star Galatica 10 minutes of show 7 minutes of commercials.

Most networks make shows unwatchable by the frequency of commercials coming on. I get it's how they make their money but even great shows like Mythbusters are ruined because of it.

Mythbusters Intro, commercial, testing myth, commercial, recap, test myth, commercial, commercial, recap AGAIN, test myth, commercial RECAP AGAIN, test myth, commercial, summary, credits.

I can't do it, I don't need a recap every 5 seconds, I get they want to fill people in who might be walking in but if they can't figure it out then they should be learning to better their mind.
 

Mr. Omega

ANTI-LIFE JUSTIFIES MY HATE!
Jul 1, 2010
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Advertising ruined TV for me. That and all the garbage they run now. I only use my TV for movies and gaming. Sure, a few shows are hard to find, but it's worth not sitting through the ads.
 

oppp7

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Aug 29, 2009
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Good, haven't watched TV for years. Don't see why I should wait for crap when I can get it any time.
 

MazeMinion

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Mar 7, 2010
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I haven't watched TV in months. Too many garbage shows, I guess.

This does sound like a pretty accurate statistic.
 

dalek sec

Leader of the Cult of Skaro
Jul 20, 2008
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Mr. Omega said:
Advertising ruined TV for me. That and all the garbage they run now. I only use my TV for movies and gaming. Sure, a few shows are hard to find, but it's worth not sitting through the ads.
Likewise, there's only a handful of shows I watch anymore but fucking advertising makes them almost unwatchable considering how many there are for each damn episode!
 

loc978

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Sep 18, 2010
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...I find it sad that there are things on TV that you can't find (legally) on the internet yet... and that some people still watch TV obsessively.
 

neoontime

I forgot what this was before...
Jul 10, 2009
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Well, I actually limited myself to only watching Tv on thursday nights now, though yeah, I get on the internetz way more.