Zenith: Mobile Internet is Driving Increased Media Consumption

The average person will spend 479 minutes a day consuming media this year, a 12 percent increase since 2011, with that number expected to rise to 492 minutes in 2020, Zenith says.

That increase has been driven by the rapid expansion of mobile internet use, Zenith says in its Media Consumption Forecasts report. This year, 24 percent of all media consumption will be mobile, up from 5 percent in 2011. By 2020, 28 percent of media consumption will be mobile. While overall consumption has increased, mobile is cutting into other mediums; between 2011 and 2018, time spent on printed newspapers fell by 45 percent and printed magazines by 56 percent. However, Zenith adds, for many publications with an internet presence, online usage has made up for time lost in print. Time spent on TV only fell by 3 percent in that time, and listening to the radio fell by 8 percent. “Television channels and radio stations have gained audiences online at the same time as they have lost them offline, but they have faced stiff competition from native digital platforms such as YouTube and Spotify,” Zenith notes. Time spent at the cinema actually rose by 3 percent in the period as theater owners invested in more screens and a better consumer experience. Studios have also done a better job at marketing releases internationally.

“Under traditional definitions, all other media are losing out to the mobile internet,” said Jonathan Barnard, Zenith’s head of forecasting and director of global intelligence. “But the truth is that the distinctions between media are becoming less important, and mobile technology offers publishers and brands more opportunities to reach consumers than ever.”

“Mobile technology is challenging brands to rethink how they communicate with consumers,” said Vittorio Bonori, Zenith’s global brand president. “Brands need to understand both the consumer’s mind-set and where they sit on the consumer journey, to determine how to communicate with them. By using data, ad tech and now artificial intelligence, brands can co-ordinate their communications across media and mind-sets to move them along the consumer journey most effectively.”