Typically, Americans spend more time using media devices - such as TV , radio, computers, mobile phones, and iPods - than doing anything else (while awake), and they are good at simultaneously using two or more media types, according to a Ball State University Center for Media Design media usage study that claims to be the most comprehensive to date.
"The average person spends about nine hours a day using some type of media, which is arguably in excess of anything we would have envisioned 10 years ago," according to a member of the research team.
Key findings of the research include the following:
About 30 percent of the observed waking day was spent with media as the sole activity versus 20.8 percent for work activity, and an additional 39 percent of the day was spent with media while involved in some other activity.
In any given hour no less than 30 percent of those studied were engaged in some way with television, and in some hours of the day that figure rose to 70 percent.
While television is still by far the dominant medium in terms of the time average Americans spend daily with media at 240.9 minutes, the computer has emerged as the second most significant media device at about 120 minutes.
About 30 percent of all media time is spent exposed to more than one medium at a time.
People ages 18 to 24 spend less time online than any other age group, except those older than 65.
Levels of concurrent media exposure were higher among those 40 to 65 than people 18 to 39.
Women spend more time multitasking with two or more types of media than men.
Use of the web, email and phones is substantially higher on Fridays than any other day of the week.
"Television is still the 800-pound gorilla because of how much the average person is exposed to it," one of the researchers said. "However, that is quickly evolving. When we combine time spent on the web, using email, instant messaging and software such as word processing, the computer eclipses all other media with the single exception of television."
Poynter Online offers additional details.
