18-34 Year-Olds: More Online than Watching TV

[Awimoway]

>--LINK--<

I, for one, am not surprised, and I doubt many people who come to sites like this are either.

The interesting question for me is TV's low ratings. Are we online more because TV (cough reality shows cough) sucks or because the web alone is more compelling, regardless of how good TV is or is not?

And this article focuses on the key advertising demographic. It suggests that you can get greater exposure online than with TV ads, but I'm pretty sure online ad revenue is really low--one of the reasons the Internet boom busted. I assume this is because there are far more sites than there are TV channels, but don't most websites buy into collective advertising sources? So I'm not sure it has to be this way. Yet most of the products/companies I see advertised online are not the same high-dollar fare as you see on TV. Perhaps because it's easier to ignore internet ads than TV ads? Puzzling.


It will be interesting to see what other stats come out of this series of articles (this is the first).

 

[teabgs]

yeah. Maybe it's because we're working later, and then eat dinner later, and then would only start watching TV AFTER primetime.

ALSO, primetime TV sucks. Reality TV sucks. Maybe we need to stop catering to the lowest common denomenator and start making smarter, more artistic TV....

I basically only watch comedy central, discovery/history/TLC, or cartoon Network IF I WATCH TV AT ALL.

I'd get a cable modem way before considering cable tv, and many of my friends feel the same way. the internet can deliver WHAT YOU WANT. whereas TV has a schedule. also, the internet is free, so everything isn't censored and dumbed down.

and that's why this 18-34 year old hardly watches tv, but spends that time online.

 

[wdlove]

I'm not really surprised. With participating on this forum it's making me younger. I'm more than two decades past the upper limit.

I'm happy the the TV networks no longer have a hold on the American citizen. In the long run it's good for the future of this great nation.

 

[miloblithe]

What about those of us who do both at the same time?

 

[m-dogg]

multi-tasking

I tend to have the TV on while I'm on the web too. Sometimes I'll even be watching TV, jammin' to iTunes and surfing the web at the same time.

Come to think of it, I tend to do that a lot!

 

[takao]

I tend to have the TV on while I'm on the web too. Sometimes I'll even be watching TV, jammin' to iTunes and surfing the web at the same time.

Come to think of it, I tend to do that a lot!

i tend to do that too but i'm changing my programm at the moment from music televisions/crappy shows to documentations about history/art/culture much more intresting (i like reportages about mediveal age etc.)

most tv shows are only repeating the same things over and over again and those news about some wanna-be stars from some "pop idol" shows/reality tv are just complete waste of time

in the web i can read news that matter whenever i want..

 

[XnavxeMiyyep]

I'm 15, and I'm definitely online more than I watch TV. I have DSL, but I didn't waste my money on Cable TV. All I watch is The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle on Sundays, and I watch WWE while I'm online on Thursdays, which can be entertaining when they actually fight.

Still, I'm surprised that so many people are smart enough to be online as opposed to watching TV.

 

[wdlove]

What about those of us who do both at the same time?

For me I'm online and watching TV at the same time only on average 2 hours a day. The majority of time I'm listening to talk radio and online.

 

[Awimoway]

For me I'm online and watching TV at the same time only on average 2 hours a day. The majority of time I'm listening to talk radio and online.

Me too. A lot of sports radio, some NPR, and now I'm giving Air America a try. Some shows are better than others. I much prefer listening to the radio while I compute to having the TV on while I try to ignore/listen to it.

 

[KC9AIC]

I haven't watched TV for maybe a month, and before that was perhaps a few more months. Radio is so much better. I just don't have a desire to drain my mind in something that's noninteractive, and exists mostly to fill in time between commercials. At home, we don't even have an antenna or cable. Just a TV and VCR for watching videos, where we're much more likely to find something educational and ad-free. The internet is much better than TV, as there's more variety, and there are the wonderful people on these forums to talk to.

 

[bennetsaysargh]

like everyone here, not surprised. although i do like to watch tv sometimes, as long as i have the internet, im happy. i leave ichat open, and if my friends to talk with me, i talk with them. im also on itunes and safari, so it's a good way rather than predetermined scheduling.

 

[MacAztec]

yeah. Maybe it's because we're working later, and then eat dinner later, and then would only start watching TV AFTER primetime.

ALSO, primetime TV sucks. Reality TV sucks. Maybe we need to stop catering to the lowest common denomenator and start making smarter, more artistic TV....

I basically only watch comedy central, discovery/history/TLC, or cartoon Network IF I WATCH TV AT ALL.

I'd get a cable modem way before considering cable tv, and many of my friends feel the same way. the internet can deliver WHAT YOU WANT. whereas TV has a schedule. also, the internet is free, so everything isn't censored and dumbed down.

and that's why this 18-34 year old hardly watches tv, but spends that time online.

Exactly like me. I only watch like 5 or 6 channels. Comedy Central, E!, TLC, Discovery, History, and Cartoon Network are the main ones.

I love "Tough Crowd" with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central latenight. Good stuff.

 

[Dale Sorel]

Screw the networks... buy a TiVo

 

[Giaguara]

gee ...

i never watch tv. just dvds and soccer .. soccer does not count as it's in a bar. (and i don't need a tv for the dvds..)

 

[Thomas Veil]

I can't do anything more than reiterate what everyone else has said: lots of TV sucks, reality shows are the reason, and I find myself spending at least as much time online as in front of the TV...and I'm not in the 18-34 group.

Also, when I do watch TV, it's often tapes or DVDs of some of my favorite shows. I'd rather watch a Babylon 5 episode for the fifth time than watch an original Average Joe or Survivor.