The general assumption is that younger viewers (especially young children) are the ones watching more and more TV on iPads and tablets. Digital natives have grown up in a TV environment that allows for place-shifting by watching TV anywhere you can bring your mobile device. There’s even a Tumblr called Babies with iPads dedicated to this phenomenon. Altman Vilandrie & Company has come out with a new survey that is showing that TV viewing on tablets is also rising among older viewers.
“The survey showed tablet owners 55 and older who watch TV and movies weekly on tablets jumped from 11% last year to 19% in 2012, while owners in the 45-54 range also saw large percentage gains (15% to 24%),” the company explained in their announcement. “While it may not make parents seem any cooler, older consumers more and more are adopting their kids’ viewing habits,” said Altman Vilandrie & Company Director Jonathan Hurd.
The survey also found very interesting data on how younger viewers. According to Altman Vilandrie & Company “47% of 18- to 34-year-old tablet owners multitask with their tablet at least half of the time while watching TV.” The question is, exactly what does multitasking mean – is it a few taps, checking email, playing a game, looking up information, all of the above? Other key findings from the report include:
- Younger consumers’ online viewing continues to rise sharply. Seventy-five percent of 18-24 year olds watch online TV shows or movies weekly, up from 62% last year.
- News and TV comedies are the top choices for what people watch online, cited by 50% and 40% of online watchers respectively.
- Among those keeping their cable TV subscriptions, the desire to watch live news (77%), new TV shows (66%) and live sports (58%) were the main reasons given.