GfK: More Time Spent with Traditional TV Than All Other Media Combined

NEW YORK: GfK, in collaboration with TVB, has revealed preliminary results from the Media Comparisons 2016 research study, with findings that American consumers spend more time with television than all other ad-supported media platforms combined.

U.S. adults 18 and older spend 4 hours and 54 minutes with television, compared to the next three highest categories, radio (62 minutes), e-mail (56 minutes) and social media (50 minutes).

The report also found that local broadcast TV news serves as the primary TV news source for 22 percent of adults 18-plus, compared with network TV news (14 percent) and cable news channels (13 percent). Broadcast news websites and apps serve as the primary news source for 10 percent of adults in the same age demo, compared with all other internet news (8 percent) and social media (7 percent). For digital news, 68 percent of adults 18 and older cited local broadcast TV news websites and apps as the most trusted compared to all other internet news (48 percent) and social media (31 percent).

“While media proliferation continues, results from the Media Comparisons study again confirm television’s dominant position as a reliable, proven marketing solution that presents accountable, measurable advantages for brand managers, advertisers and political campaigns seeking to reach target audiences and influence decisions,” said Steve Lanzano, the president and CEO of TVB. “Study findings show that adults 18-plus spend nearly five hours a day with traditional television, or 16 percent more time than is spent on all other ad-supported media combined. In addition, local broadcast TV news remains the primary and most trusted resource for news and information, while social media received some of the lowest marks.”