Nearly three in four U.S. television viewers regularly use their smartphones for other media while the TV is on, according to new consumer research from U.K.-based Omdia.
The finding, presented at IBC by María Rúa Aguete, Omdia’s global head of media and entertainment, underscores a widening fight for attention between the living-room screen and the phone in the viewer’s hand.
TV is no longer competing only with another channel or streaming service. It is competing with mobile video, especially short-form and vertical clips, at the same time the set is on. The habit is no longer confined to younger audiences.
“We don’t have a content problem. We have an attention problem,” Rúa Aguete said. “Three in four Americans are using their phones while watching TV, and increasingly what they are doing is watching more video. The battle is no longer simply TV versus mobile. Both screens are on. The question is: which one has your attention?”
Omdia said viewers have grown used to personalized, instantly available video on phones, adding another rival for traditional television and streaming. For networks, platforms and advertisers, the implication is that reach on the big screen no longer guarantees undivided attention.