Marketing and media research firm Ipsos this morning reported findings of an ongoing tracking study indicating that the weekly Internet usage of online Canadians (18.0 hours) has surpassed the number
of hours spent watching television (16.9 hours). Ipsos said the weekly Internet usage of Canadians is up from 14.9 hours last year, while time spent watching television is up from 15.8 hours. Ipsos
said usage of other media, including newspapers, radio and magazines, is "relatively stable" vs. a year ago.
The research methodology in this is critical. While I don't have the latest data for Canada, in 2004 it was officially 21.4 hrs per week or just over 3 hrs a day - which accords with most similar countries that use electronic panel measurement. (This is down from 21.6 hrs in 1999).
We had a similar scenario here in Australia where online trumped TV for the first time - and yes, it was claimed weight of usage conducted online. Given that 20% of the population don't go online in a month that immediately skewed the results.