• by Wayne Friedman , October 9, 2012

Although TV prime time and other day-part viewing has been largely dominated by women viewers for years, growing gaming console use is bringing more men to the TV screen. This trend could act as a gateway to more traditional TV viewing.

For example, Nielsen says younger women 18-34 watch 4 hours and 11 minutes of TV a day -- with men 18-34 watching over 40 minutes less, viewing 3 hours and 34 minutes a day.

But with new 7th-generation gaming consoles, the total screen gap is much smaller. Young men spend 48 minutes on gaming a day; women, 30 minutes. That means total TV and gaming use brings men much closer to total screen activity: 4:33 for women and 4:22 for men.

Other research has shown that because many new gaming consoles have the increasing ability to act like set-top cable/satellite boxes -- where users can access a range of programming apps and other over-the-top services like Netflix and Hulu -- men, in particular, will steadily raise their overall TV screen activity.

Nielsen says: "That’s screen time with value, giving advertisers increased opportunities to target consumers no matter how they’re using the consoles -- whether it’s playing the latest first-person combat game, bringing on an old sitcom or streaming a movie."

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