TiVo: TV Trumps Second Screen for Viewer Engagement

SAN JOSE: Despite the increasing prevalence of second-screen multitasking, TiVo reports that most viewers are actually actively watching TV programming while their sets are on.

The survey found that many viewers report having multitasked at least once while watching TV: browsing the Internet (69 percent), cooking (48 percent) and chatting online (23 percent). Even still, more than three quarters (76 percent) say their primary focus is actually watching what is on the television. More than 45 percent of TiVo users and 35 percent of non-TiVo users said their attention was directed only towards the TV, and not to anything else, while watching.

Smartphones are the most frequently used second screens while multitasking (61 percent); though less than one quarter (24 percent) of respondents report using smartphones every time or almost every time they watch TV.

Many of the survey respondents said they use the Internet to find content related to their favorite shows, but only 27 percent said they do so while watching their programs. This online activity occurs more commonly after watching a program; 14 percent report using the Internet immediately after watching and 32 percent search for TV-related content on the Internet during the following week.

TiVo found that most TV viewers are not using the Internet to connect with others to discuss TV shows (not including social media). Most say they want only want to discuss TV with people they know, rather than with random people on the Internet in open forums.

In what TiVo is calling the "Game of Thrones" factor, it found that some shows practically demand viewers' full attention, given their complex plot twists or dialogue. The survey found that 73 percent of respondents agree that "there are certain shows that are so important to me or so tricky to follow, I make sure not to do other things while I am watching them."