Second-Screen Usage Now Mainstream

BRUSSELS: In time for World Television Day today, a number of research organizations and industry bodies have issued a joint study on second-screen usage among viewers across Europe, noting, "Television is the social medium."

The research was issued by egta, representing TV and radio ad-sales houses; the Association of Commercial Television in Europe; and U.K. outfit Thinkbox, among others.

In the U.K., 74 percent of respondents said they had picked up an Internet-connected device during ad breaks. Live sports and reality TV shows attract the greatest number of social-media interactions, the study notes, citing the 2014 BRIT Awards.

In France, 42 percent of viewers aged 15 to 60 have engaged with a TV show via a social network; 37 percent of the Swiss says it's “normal” and “commonplace” to use the Internet while watching TV; and 62 percent of the Spanish were second-screening last year. In Sweden, 55 percent of viewers used another device while watching television. For Poland, about 33 percent of viewers are multiscreeners.

Second-screen usage is creating a host of opportunities for marketers, the data suggests. In Spain, 30 percent of social-media users comment on TV advertising. And in Switzerland, 16 percent of multiscreeners said their second-screen usage included looking for information on brands they'd seen advertised. Viewers are also more likely to stay in front of the TV during the commercial breaks if their are multiscreening.

TV remains the dominant screen. In Germany, 86 percent of all video touchpoints among adults 14 to 59 are with live linear television. In the Netherlands, 65 percent of viewing is focused on the TV set, without any other activities. In the U.K., 98 percent of TV viewing is on the TV set.

World Television Day is a United Nations-led initiative backed by ACT and egta. According to the U.N., "World Television Day is not so much a celebration of the tool, but rather the philosophy which it represents. Television represents a symbol for communication and globalization in the contemporary world."