Just 46% of the core TV audience (ages 18-58) watch linear TV in a typical month, according to a Forrester survey of more than 3,166 U.S. online adults in 2014.
In response to the question: “In which of the following ways do you watch video in a typical month?”, 40% of millennials (18-34 viewers) say they watch “TV as it airs.” Older Gen Xers/Younger Boomers (35-58) come in at 52%.
Millennials also tally 40% when it comes to “streamed from a free video service” and 40% for “streamed from a paid online video service.” In addition, 33% of those 18-34s watch “recorded on a DVR.” (37% of Gen Xers/Young Boomers watch DVR).
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Perhaps to the chagrin of most traditional TV executives, numbers are lower for “free video on demand.” Here millennials come in at 23% and Gen Xers/Young Boomers at 32%.
Responding to the question “in a typical week, how much time do you spend?”: 55% of millennials watch four or more hours a week on TV; and 34% watch four or more hours a week on online.
As a comparison, 73% of Gen Xers watch four or more hours a week on TV, but only 12% watch for four or more online.
In the first place the "core" TV audience is actually 50+, not 18-58. In the second place, the monthly reach "findings" in this study bear no resemblance to what Nielsen or MRI say about TV viewing where "linear TV" is concerned. The idea that half of TV's "core" audience---however defined-----doesn't watch a single TV show "live" in a month is absurd. Sorry, Forrester, your study is just not credible.
Well said Ed. And here I was wondering which end of the bull the report came out of.