Daily Time Spent per Media

[Gaim Mastr]

EBG (http://www.electronicgamingbusiness.com/) has an interesting April 15th news bit.

In what proved to be a surprise even to the media researcher who ran the study, game playing is now the fourth most used medium among young males in terms of time share, and it is even with printed media among all age groups. "We knew it was high, but we were surprised to learn it was that high," Robert deFelice tells ad trade Mediapost.com. Full Story (http://www.electronicgamingbusiness.com/snapshot/)

http://www.electronicgamingbusiness.com/images/snapshot/20040415.gif


Interesting how EBG appears to debunk this report. Basically stating that most males between 12 and 17 years of age probably watch more television, and play less game time, than this study suggests.

But I'd argue that the Internent usage from that age group is around 40% game-related. So if you add that to the actual game time, I think there's a clearer picture.

And no matter what age group you belong to, it appears that investing in a magazine company may not be the wisest long-term decision. :lol:

[DejaFu]

that doesn't seem correct

[DanTheManPR]

WTF, 12 year olds read the newspaper more than they play video games?! :wtf:

[Gaim Mastr]

WTF, 12 year olds read the newspaper more than they play video games?! :wtf:


Even if the study were to include just reading the comics page, I'd still find that hard to believe. :lol:

[Terry Penrod]

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WTF, 12 year olds read the newspaper more than they play video games?! :wtf:


That is a deceptive category because it includes all 12 to 64 year-olds.

Better to focus on smaller age group divisions for each type of media, across-the-board. You will notice that in the males 12 to 17 age bracket, that newspaper, Internet and video games (presumably also including PC games as well as consoles and handhelds in this particular study) are basically even, with radio and magazines lagging badly behind and total TV viewership still way out ahead in an overall comparison. That seems about right to me.

First of all, TV (broadcast / network & local, cable, direct satellite, PPV and video sales / rentals) represent a huge array of channels in every market in virtually every home and in almost every room in many homes, as well as the many other places that TV sets are readily available in fixed locations and via portable displays. That makes TV the single most accessible and broad-based multimedia outlet around - regardless of audience sex, age, race, cultural background, income bracket, educational level, personal interests, etc.

However, current advertising industry studies indicate a sharp drop-off in TV ad revenues and audience growth coming up soon as the web continues to grow and define itself as the new model for direct marketing, shopping, services of all kinds, news of every type, research, education, personal and business commincations, entertainment, etc. This is also impacted by the belief that highly selective, editable TIVO-type viewing will continue to grow.

As a net result, media buyers and analysts believe that total ad expenditures on the Internet will grow decisively in the next decade while TV wanes. Print media is already flat or diminishing but radio seems to be getting new life.

Cheers, Terry

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[Ojnod]

Terry there is a 12-17 year old category, I think that was what DTM was reffering to.

[Terry Penrod]

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Terry there is a 12-17 year old category, I think that was what DTM was reffering to.


Obviously, but as I said, if you look at the males 12-17 year-old chart, there are three media (newspapers, Internet and video games) that are basically even at this time and the trends I outlined make it perfectly clear that the web and video games will continue to grow expansively while all print media including newspapers drops.

In the end, there will just be passive and interactive forms of media and we will eventually stop comparing paper to film to video to airwaves. It will be the nature of the core content and a system of inter-related outlets for each - in every possible demographic category and for every level of usage - that defines how media is analyzed, programmed and bought.

This merging of entertainment, news, commercial, educational and service industries, and the underlying technologies and systems that currently support them is in fact already well underway. All that remains is for a few more technical, legal and other glithches to be overcome before we see true conglomeration of movies, TV, games, etc. under a single set of multimedia umbrelllas that are interlaced through carefully cooridinated packaging, cross-marketing, sales promotion and distribution through all available media.

Cheers, Terry

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[DanTheManPR]

Obviously, but as I said, if you look at the males 12-17 year-old chart, there are three media (newspapers, Internet and video games) that are basically even at this time and the trends I outlined make it perfectly clear that the web and video games will continue to grow expansively while all print media including newspapers drops.

I can't imagine that anyone in that age group even reads the newspaper.

[Terry Penrod]

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I can't imagine that anyone in that age group even reads the newspaper.


You may find this odd but all the kids in my civics class were actually required to read and be prepared to report on the national, state and local news daily all through middle school. Not TV news either, legitimate newspaper coverage including editorials on every important subject (sans sports and entertainment). Some schools still teach this kind of regular news readership to their students but most do not.

However, national newspaper distribution has changed since the advent of at-a-glance, capsulized news items in USA Today on a regional basis along with digital subscribership - which also counts towards the overall numbers. This factor does muddy the waters of a survey like this in that many former ink and paper readers now get the same news from the same sources but in a new cyber format. Some get both. So it's hard to tell in a general synopsis where that crossover occurs or if it has even been accounted for.

Nevertheless, there are some kids still out there from homes that do not allow unlimited TV or web access and they generally are more conservative in their approach to new forms of media. So their children turn to the only available sources of news, comics, sports, entertainment scuttlebutt, etc. - newspapers and magazines that their parents approve of and subscribe to. Odd but true according to some of the demographic studies I have seen about current lifestyle trends, attitudes and family-oriented consumer media habits.

One other factor has been something of a backlash against the perceived immorality of TV and the net by concerned, neo-conservative parents. This may account for a significant number on a national basis and should not be overlooked when viewing such a broad cross-section of people from any age group.

Cheers, Terry

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