• by Sarah Mahoney , July 13, 2009

Americans are getting more and more adept at multi-tasking, reports Experian Simmons, with the combination of TV viewing-whilst-web-surfing solidifying the No. 1 spot. "Something like 90% of us watches TV in a typical day," says John Fetto, manager of applied media research for the New York-based market research company, "and upwards of 70% use some other media while doing so."

The three biggest threats to the rapt attention "CSI" reruns command on the viewing public: Surfing the web (favored by 27% of multitaskers), using cell phones (26%) or emailing (23%).

The other big news, he says, is just how quickly social-networking sites have taken hold. The latest Simmons New Media Study reports that 54% of online adults say they've visited a social networking site in the last 30 days, an increase of 270% from the fall of 2007, making it the fastest-growing new medium.

Most do it to stay in touch with friends (83%), for fun (80%), to reconnect with people they've lost touch with (66%) or to keep tabs on their family (61%). About 42% say they use the sites to express themselves and their opinions.

On average, those in the study say they sleep about 6.1 hours a day, work about 6.6. hours, watch TV for 3 hours, use the computer for 2.4 hours, listen to the radio about 1.7 hours, and read books for 1.5 hours.

Some 13% of cell phone users have two cell phones, with 89% of them saying one was exclusively for personal use.

Another surprise, he says, is that consumers still seem fairly unaware of their cell phones as a potential ad medium, and fairly unreceptive to the concept, he says. "Many worry that they'll be charged for such ads," he says, "although in this economy, they do seem to be more open to text ads those that contain discounts and coupons."