The End of the TV Era?

Averaging almost 8 hours a day, people around the world spend more time consuming media than ever before. That’s according to Zenith's latest Media Consumption Forecast, published last year, which shows an interesting trend in media consumption.

For decades, TV was the undisputed number 1 in terms of daily media usage, and it still is if desktop and mobile internet usage are counted separately. If you combine the two, however, total internet consumption exceeded TV consumption for the first time last year.

According to Zenith, daily mobile internet consumption amounted to 130 minutes per day in 2019, up from just 80 minutes in 2015. Adding 40 minutes of desktop internet use, total internet use amounted to 170 minutes per day last year, compared to 167 minutes of daily TV viewing. In line with the old advertising adage “money follows eyeballs”, online advertising expenditure is also on the rise and, according to Zenith, surpassed TV ad spending for the first time in 2017.

Please note that time spent with television only includes time with traditionally broadcast channels and stations in this case. According to Zenith time spent with online platforms owned by broadcasters is counted as internet consumption.