Advertisement

Smartphone and tablet owners multitask while watching TV, survey finds

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Apparently, even TV won’t keep people from their smartphones and tablet computers, a new study found.

According to a Nielsen Co. survey, about 40% of smartphone and tablet owners in the U.S. multitask on the devices daily while watching TV, compared with only 14% of people with e-readers like the Kindle or Nook (no book, it seems, is more interesting than the tube).

Advertisement

About two-thirds of both male and female respondents admitted to checking email, the most common activity occupying people’s time besides the TV.

But much of the other attention devoted to hand-held devices broke down along gender lines: almost half the women browsed social networking sites during programming and commercial breaks, while only about a third of men did. However, 44% of gents checked sports, compared with only 17% of women.

Finally, tablet owners are marginally more engrossed in their devices than smartphones owners. About 42% of people with tablets confessed to simultaneously using it while watching the TV on a daily basis; 40% of smartphones users admitted to doing the same.

RELATED:

Android phones more desired than iPhone or BlackBerry, survey says

Games are the most popular category in smartphone apps, Nielsen says

Advertisement

Smartphone sales continue to surpass those of feature phones, Nielsen says

-- Shan Li

Advertisement