The Upside to Media Multitasking

Americans consider themselves expert multitaskers, listening to the radio while driving, surfing the Internet while watching TV, and talking on the phone while doing everything else.

Yet while advertisers worry if consumers are paying attention, media multitasking might not be as prevalent as they fear. A September 2008 study by MRI found that about one-half of major media consumption is exclusive.

TV gets multitasked the most. At home, nearly one-fifth (19%) of magazine reading is done while watching TV, as is 17.4% of Internet usage and 15.3% of newspaper reading.

Average Daily Simultaneous* Usage of Select Media by US Adult Consumers While Watching TV at Home, 2008 (% of time spent with each media)

Multitasking actually helps explain why TV usage has continued to rise, even as consumers spend more time on the Internet—especially with online video: Simultaneous viewing means the "usage meter" is running on both media at the same time. So despite the increase in time spent online, Americans are still putting in more TV time every year.