• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, August 12, 2021

Since the dawn of the modern mobile age -- complete with video capabilities -- TV shows could be viewed anywhere, especially on the go.

A few decades into the mobile era, how many consumers are actually doing this, even on a semi-regular basis?

At the start of the pandemic -- in March 2020 -- a survey of 5,002 people showed 30% could be found watching a TV show on their mobile devices weekly; 7% on a monthly basis. And 48%, asked if they had  “ever” watched a TV show on their mobile phones, said yes.

The poll, from Hub Entertainment Research, came right as the start of the pandemic when there were many workers/students/and others at home, with less need to view TV shows on the go. (Hello and goodbye, Quibi!)

Now, a year and a half later, a lot of businesses have reopened offices and consumer locations for their employees to return. Will that change mobile content consumption of premium TV shows?

It could, amid an explosion of new premium streaming platforms.

Still, watching a traditional 30-minute or one-hour episode of a TV series while out of home? Maybe for college students, business road warriors, or others always on the go.

Much granular detail is missing from these consumer polls in terms of the types of TV programs, duration of the viewing, time of day, engagement in ad messaging, etc. Chiefly, one wonders in a post-pandemic world (sans the uptick due to the current Delta variant) where this now leaves mobile viewing of TV shows in the long term.

More importantly, do marketers who buy into digital/streaming platforms where ad-supported TV shows reside really care?

If any substantial digital reach for regular TV series comes from outside the home, perhaps we'd best observe laptop/desktop computers at work.

That’s a place where watching premium long-form content would be the easiest -- even when keeping an eye for the boss hovering around the corner of your cubicle.