Tablet Users Set the Bar High for Keeping Connected Across Devices

eMarketer reporting:
The vast majority of consumers who use tablets also own a host of other web-enabled devices. From laptops to game consoles to smart TVs, tablet owners overindex in tech device usage—particularly smartphones—compared to the average consumer, according to a new eMarketer report, “Tablet Users' Multidevice Habits: Connected Morning, Noon and Night (But On Different Devices).”
Given their penchant for web-enabled devices, this cohort is rarely “off the grid.” While that makes them highly accessible to marketers, tablet users are a slippery bunch that frequently shifts attention from one device to another. The good news for marketers is users’ transitions between devices largely mirrors the home-work-home transitions made in a typical day. Brands implementing a measurable “all-screen” marketing strategy will have the best chance to win this group’s “catch me if you can” game.

The increasing popularity of tablets has many questioning the future of other digital devices, including desktop computers, laptops and even televisions. However, research suggests that tablet users are a device-dependent group that is not abandoning legacy devices as they add new technology to the mix.
Based on an analysis from multiple sources, eMarketer estimates more than 73 million tablet users—57% of the US tablet-using population and 30% of US internet users—will also use a smartphone at least once per month this year. And in 2017, the number of dual tablet/smartphone users will top 126 million and represent nearly 80% of all tablet users—almost half of US internet users.

Understanding the number of duals is important when assessing the impact mobile device usage has on overall digital engagement. For instance, December 2012 data from comScore showed tablet and smartphone usage extended the reach of the top 25 US digital media companies by an average of 29%, and some mobile-centric properties such as Pandora experienced triple-digit audience gains.
The vast majority (90%) of tablet owners polled in May 2012 by research firm GfK MRI said they simultaneously used their tablet while doing other activities, like eating a meal, getting dressed, exercising and perhaps most interestingly, while using other digital devices. Thirty-six percent of those polled said they talked on a mobile phone or smartphone while using their tablet, and 28% used a tablet and traditional computer at the same time. By far, the most common pairing was the tablet with the TV: Some 63% said they used the two devices together.


http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Tablet-Users-Set-Bar-High-Keeping-Connected-Across-Devices/1010222



http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Tablet-Users-Set-Bar-High-Keeping-Connected-Across-Devices/1010222

Danish TV audience measurements to include multimedia viewing

research. reporting:
The Danish National TV Steering Committee has said it will add measurement of TV viewing on PCs, smart phones and tablets to its existing Kantar-delivered television audience measurement (TAM) service next year.
The committee, which comprises DR, TV 2, Viasat, SBS TV, Discovery, Turner Broadcasting System and Viacom International Media Networks, will deploy Kantar Media’s VirtualMeter technology within panel households.
Mette Lehrmann, head of research at TV 2 and chairman of the TAM steering committee, said: “As broadcasters we wanted to ensure that the industry continues to receive audience figures of the highest quality capturing viewing habits of the Danish population. This enhanced service will measure TV content on PCs, smart phones and tablets, ensuring audience measurement in Denmark is fit for the future.”
http://www.research-live.com/news/by-region/danish-tv-audience-measurements-to-include-multimedia-viewing/4008451.article

Majority of Cellphone Users Supplement, Distract From, Share TV Experience via Mobile Devices

Multichannel News:
Mobile phone users, particularly younger demos, aren't waiting around for traditional TV to catch up with their desire for on-screen interactivity.
That is according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, which found that half of all adult cellphone owners are "connected viewers," employing their phones to supplement their TV viewing, or what Pew calls "engagement, diversion or interaction." That "connected viewer" figure jumps to 81% for users 18-24, but is strong across the board, with 72% of adults 25-34 connected viewers and 60% of those 35-44. Percentages drop below 50% from there, with only 16% seniors 65-plus phoning it in.
The study, conducted March 15-April 3 among 2,254 adults 18-plus, found that users tapped into their phones for a variety of reasons during TV-watching, including over a third (38%) who used them during commercial breaks to "keep themselves occupied." According to study co-author Aaron Smith, the study did not drill down to find out what they were doing during the commercial breaks, so it is possible they could have been reacting to or following up something they saw in an ad, he said, rather than ignoring the ad altogether.
According to the study, 23% used their phones to text someone who is watching the same show; 22% used the phone to visit a website mentioned on TV (either in the programming or ads); 11% surfed the Web to see what others were saying online about the show -- the same percentage said they posted their own online comments about it -- and 6% said they sometimes used the phone to vote for a reality show contestant.
"Television audiences are actively primed to participate," said co-author/research intern Jan Lauren Boyles, "and these connected viewers are using mobile devices to debate, learn, and engage with programming and each other."
Connected viewers skew upscale and urban, with households earning $50,000 or more, more likely to be turning their TV viewing interactive via their phones, and urban (54%) and suburban (52%) more likely than rural to be turning their viewing experience into a social one, though with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, the gap is not much beyond that margin.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/487293-Most_TV_Watchers_Use_Phones_for_Interactivity_Pew.php

CIMM finds multi-screen consumers engaging with brands

research. reporting:
The results are contained in two white papers, produced in association with ComScore and Arbitron. The studies were commissioned last year.
In ComScore’s white paper, entitled How Multi-Screen Consumers Are Changing Media Dynamics, the agency explores a study of 10 broadcast network and cable brands covering a five-week period. It found that an average of 90% of consumers engaging with a given brand did so on TV, while 25% did so online and 12% via online video.
The study also found that the segments of multi-screen consumers showing the highest propensity to engage with these brands tended to correlate strongly with their key demographic targets, suggesting that engagement on other platforms represents an important extension of the audiences’ use and enjoyment of the media brands.
Meanwhile, Arbitron’s white paper, based on its cross-platform media measurement pilot, revealed that a significant share of TV viewers are using PCs and mobile devices as second and third screens to access video content.
In all, 91.7% of the panelists who viewed the TV/cable outlets of CIMM members used a second or third screen to access video sites and 35.5% used all three screens – TVs, PCs and Android/BlackBerry devices.
http://www.research-live.com/4007588.article