AR&D Reinventing Local Media

If you needed proof that we are Multi-Tasker nation, here it is: almost one-third of in-home Internet use happens while people are watching TV. That’s one of the findings from The Nielsen TV/Internet Convergence Panel, and the study’s results should challenge our notions about media consumption.

For years, the big myth of “cannibalism” kept TV stations and newspapers from putting breaking news (and finished reports) on their sites. There’s still this superstition that “if we put it on our site, people won’t watch us.” There’s also a fear that putting news on your site will mean the competition will get a leg up on you. Get over it. We’re in the 24/7 news biz now. Unless it’s an investigative piece, they know what’s going on, too.

The cannibalism fear is what drives innovative companies under. It’s why buggy companies didn’t go into the car business. It’s why record companies didn’t get into digital downloads when they should have. And it’s why news has been overrun by the Web.

Sure - the audience is moving. But wouldn’t you rather it moved to you? We have this fear of the Web audience - that they are killing TV. And, obviously, with our entertainment choices spread out, people do spend their time with more “screens.” But this isn’t a zero sum situation. So what are we giving our audiences that makes our content worth watching and checking out online at the same time or later?

It turns out that the Internet audience is the best TV audience. From the report:

- The top fifth of Internet users spend more than 250 minutes per day watching television, compared to 220 minutes of television viewing by people who do not use the Internet at all.

- Teens are the most likely demographic to have simultaneous TV/Internet usage, but Adults 35-54 have the most simultaneous usage minutes.

This is the first time Nielsen has undertaken a study evaluating simultaneous TV and Web usage. One data point does not a trend make. But it does kill a superstition - that we somehow cannibalize from ourselves by having good content online.