Mobile devices bigger time suckers than papers, magazines
Adults in the U.S. now spend about an hour per day with their mobile devices compared with just 44 minutes reading magazines and newspapers, says eMarketer.
Mobile devices have surpassed magazines and newspapers in grabbing our time each day, says a new study from market researcher eMarketer.
On average, U.S. consumers now spend around an hour every day with their mobile phones, a 30 percent rise from last year.
In contrast, people are spending only 44 minutes a day reading newspapers and magazines, a small drop from last year. But the results stemming back from 2008 show a sharp rise for mobile devices and a steady decline for print publications.
Despite the popularity of mobile devices, people are still spending much more time watching TV and surfing the Web.
Watching TV and videos continue to soak up the most time, according to the study, averaging 274 minutes (around four and a half hours) each day. And hopping onto the Internet was in second place, capturing 167 minutes of a person's daily time.
Radio managed to take third place, accounting for 94 minutes a day, though that activity has shown a slight decline each year since 2008.
eMarketer's numbers were based on data from a variety of other sources, including Nielsen, ComScore, Yankee Group, and Abitron. To compile the study, eMarketer analyzed all of that data and then used a formula to paint a picture of the overall market.
Time spent also accounted for multitasking. So, an hour spent watching TV and surfing the Web at the same time was considered a separate hour of each activity.