For those who may have doubted that incredible photo of teens in front of TV we shared a few weeks ago, there’s new research that illustrates the fast-paced, media-shifting minds of younger consumers. A study commissioned by Time Warner found that “digital natives” — people in their 20s — switched media venues 27 times a non-working hour (for example, switching from TV to phone while sitting on the couch.) That’s 13 times during a 30-minute TV show.
Thirty people participated in the study, and researchers monitored them for 300 hours. Participants wore eyeglass cameras and biometric belts. “What they are looking for is engaging content, and they dismiss so much stuff,” said Dan Albert, SVP at Chicago’s MARC USA agency, in an Ad Age article.
With the explosion of content and conversations, younger people are filtering in real-time, sometimes consuming and creating simultaneously. To date, filtering technology is rather primitive, especially compared to the human brain. But one of the goals of social TV is to act as a real-time discovery tool, elevating engaging content and meaningful conversations automatically.
Last week Nielsen released a study that found 45% of tablet owners in the US used their devices in front of TV on a daily basis. All of this nicely explains why there’s such a big push on the investment and product development front to crack the second screen opportunity.