• by Wayne Friedman , July 20, 2011

When it comes to multitasking, TV is more of a "solo" platform than any other.

New research from Knowledge Networks shows that Internet users share that platform more than other media. Sixty percent of the time consumers spend with the Internet, they are using at least one other medium.

This is also double the rate of consumers' use of TV -- 30% -- compared to other media. The study says TV is a solo medium 70% of the time.

But the Internet isn't the most "shared" medium. That title belongs to newspapers, at 79%. Magazines come next at 71%.

Not surprisingly, simultaneous use of the Internet with other media has grown among 18-34 consumers. It was 51% in 2009, rising to 64% in late 2010.

Overall, the study says 20% of all minutes spent with the five media measured -- TV, Internet, radio, magazines, and newspapers -- are shared with one or more other media.

"If we assume that every medium you add to the mix is likely to diminish attention to advertising, then television holds a unique advantage over the Internet when it comes to engagement," said Robert DeFelice, vice president of client services at Knowledge Networks and director of the MultiMedia Mentor research program.

"But this also means that the Internet presents twice as many opportunities for reinforcing messages in other media," he adds, "if one has a clear sense of where and when target audiences might be likely to combine media use."