• Editor & Publisher, Wednesday, August 8, 2007 10:30 AM

People spent less time on media last year compared with 2005, according to research from Veronis Suhler Stevenson, the first time media consumption has dropped year-over-year since 1997. According to the study, media usage per person dipped 0.5% to 3,530 hours, and Veronis pegs the decline on a migration to digital media for news, information, and entertainment that requires less time than traditional media.

For instance, consumers might spend as few as five to seven minutes watching an online video, but they might take 30 minutes to watch TV. Veronis also discovered that people are moving away from ad-supported media in favor of "consumer-supported" fare like videogames and cable TV. The amount of time spent in those mediums rose almost 20%, while those with ad-supported media was down 6.3%.

"We are in the midst of a major shift in the media landscape that is being fueled by changes in technology, end-user behaviors and the response by brand marketers and communications companies," says James Rutherfurd, executive vice president and managing director of Veronis.

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