There have been predictions for years that the demise of television watching was at hand, and yet not only is it increasing, it's being watched more per day than ever in history, with people saying that it's on for eight hours and fourteen minutes a day per household.
Many thought that the coming of the Internet was doom to the television industry, but so far that hasn't proven to be true. As a matter of fact, I believe that it's possible that it could even grow more in viewing hours per household.
The one think I think that needs to be kept in mind with these numbers that were reported by Nielsen, is that having television on for over eight hours a day, doesn't necessarily mean that it is being watched.
How many times have you been at somebody's house and the TV in the other room was on with nobody watching it as background noise? I've even had people tell me that they keep it on to go to sleep to.
But putting anomalies aside, it's still a huge amount of time people are saying they're watching TV. With the media companies beginning to develop Internet Web sites that are beginning to complement TV viewing - sometimes in real time - we may see both mediums grow in time being used.
Many shows are now offering contests and passwords that are available for periods of time that can access an online site that gives the viewer options to see previews that others not accessing it don't get. Others are offering real-time viewing that coincide with a sporting event, like nascar.com is now doing.
Rather than taking away from television or the Internet, media companies are figuring out ways to make them not only compliment, but need one another. Consumers using both will have a much better experience than those watching or using only only one. Similar to watching a movie at the theater and then buying the directer's cut DVD with additional footage and behind-the-scenes action and interviews.
How far will this be able to go before time itself slows it down? Nobody knows. There are only so many hours a day, and it seems people are already literally spending less time sleeping so they can partake in more media fare.
The question that needs to be answered is how all of this will work out for marketers who are having an increasingly difficult time reaching the new, fickle, interactive media consumer. It'll probably take several years to work all of that out. In the mean time it looks like TV viewing, in conjunction with the Internet, will keep on growing in usage.
Taking all of this into consideration, these viewing hours don't take into account the TV that is being watched on computers or other devices. TV is no longer the thing sitting in your living room or bedroom, it's any screen that can be reached via a delivery system.
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