Internet and TV Dominate Youth Tech Time

by Jack Loechner, Oct 29, 2010, 9:00 AM

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In a sequel to Edison Research's survey from 2000, "Radio's Future: Today's 12 to 24 year-olds," the company conducted 1533 interviews nationwide with 875 interviews age 12-24 and 888 interviews age 22-34. In addition, an online survey is included of respondents ages 12 to 34 using the "KnowledgePanel" from Knowledge Networks. The interviews were conducted in September, 2010, matched to national age and sex demographics.

In addition to a sample of today's 12-24 year-old Americans, this study also re-examines a cohort from the 2000 study - today's 22-34 year olds - to analyze how their tastes and habits have changed over the past decade.

Media consumption habits have changed with internet, phone and radio increasing most, and TV, video games and movies decreasing most.

Media Consumption Changes (From Last Year; Ages 12-24 Segment; Sept 2010)
	% of Respondents by Category
Segment	More	Less
Internet	48%	14%
Television	18	35
Radio	27	22
Video games	19	30
Talking on phone	28	13
Magazines	10	23
Newspapers	10	17
Concerts	9	17
Moview	20	28
Source: Edison Research, September 2010

The study indicates that during an average day, Americans age 12-24 spend two hours and 52 minutes on the internet, making the web the media format American young adults spend the most time consuming. Television closely follows with a daily average of two hours and 47 minutes.

Listening to the radio came in a distant third with a one hour and 24 minute daily average. With a daily average of one hour and 10 minutes, video games closely trailed radio, followed by talking on the telephone (one hour and four minutes). Time spent reading magazines and newspapers is negligible.

Time Spent With Media 2010 vs. 2000 (Age 12-24 Segment; Hours:Minutes)
	Hours:Minutes Spent
Segment	2010	2000
Internet	2:52	:59
TV	2:47	2:37
Radio	1:24	2:43
Video games	1:10	:42
Telephone	1:04	1:44
Magazines	:11	:24
Newspapers	:08	:17
Source: Edison Research, September 2009

And, more specifically, Edison Research singled out "Radio's Future," and is focused on the music discovery and consumption habits of young Americans. The study was sponsored by Radio-Info.com.

Radio continues to be the medium most often used for music discovery, with 51% of 12-24 year-olds reporting that they "frequently" find out about new music by listening to the radio. Other significant sources include:

·      Friends... 46%

·      YouTube... 31%

·      social networking sites...16%

20% of 12-24s have listened to Pandora in the last month, with 13% indicating usage in the past week. By comparison, 6% of 12-24s indicated they have listened to online streams from terrestrial AM/FM stations in the past week.

More than four in five 12-24s own a mobile phone in 2010 (up from only 29% in 2000), and these young Americans are using these phones as media convergence devices:

·      50% of younger mobile phone users have played games on their phones

·      45% have accessed social networking sites

·      40% have used their phones to listen to music stored on their phones

Music tastes have shifted among 12-24s over the past decade: those radio listeners who indicated that Top 40/Pop stations were their favorite have more than doubled, while Alternative Rock stations were selected by half as many listeners in 2010 as in 2000.

Today's 22-34s have significantly changed their media consumption habits since the first study in this series 10 years ago. In 2000, 44% of 12-24s most often began their day by listening to the radio. Today, radio continues to lead, with 29% of that same cohort (today's 22-34 year-olds) reporting that radio is the medium they use most in the morning, while Television (25%) and the Internet (23%) have gained significantly.

For more information, please visit EdisonResearch here.

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0 comments on "Internet and TV Dominate Youth Tech Time".

1. Allen Brivic from BrivicMedia, Inc.
   

   commented on: October 29, 2010 at 9:17 a.m.

   How can 2010 media usage be based on a Sept. 2009 study??????

2. Howie Goldfarb from Blue Star Strategic Marketing
   

   commented on: October 29, 2010 at 9:20 a.m.

   How can the average be 9 hrs per day. That seems an awful lot especially for the under 18 segment who spent 7 hrs in school during the day. Something is fishy with the numbers.

3. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston
   

   commented on: October 29, 2010 at 12:35 p.m.

   This research will chase a lot of people into denial, but I can confirm that the numbers match my experience with college-age students. Radio use is WAY down, as is print. Deny all you want, but this is the future of media.

4. George Penz
   

   commented on: October 29, 2010 at 4:07 p.m.

   I found your latest research on internet usage of 12-24 interesting, but for marketing purposes it would be more relevant to compare 12-17 and 18-24.
   I bet you would find a substantial difference.

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