Boomers' media usage patterns are similar to most Americans in one respect: TV dominates. In each month of Q3 2009, Americans watched an average of 129 hours of TV compared with 27 hours spent on the Internet, according to Nielsen's latest "A2/M2 Three-Screen Report."
Boomers, however, averaged between 140 and 160 hours of TV time each month, compared with an average of 28 to 31 hours spent online. They appear to be the last large audience for newspapers, although they are increasingly going online to find national and local news.
The most recent survey from Deloitte on Americans' media habits, conducted in September and October 2009, showed 77 percent of boomers chose watching TV as a favorite media-related activity. Listening to music on any type of device (40 percent) and reading print or online books (37 percent) surpassed using the Internet for personal reasons (34 percent).
About one-quarter (26 percent) chose reading print or online newspapers as their favorite activity, while just 12 percent said they liked to read magazines in those formats.
