Tech time
UK consumers spend almost half their waking hours watching TV, surfing the internet or using their mobiles and are getting increasingly adept at multitasking thanks to smartphones.
A new study by Ofcom found the average tech-savvy Brit is cramming 8 hours 48 minutes of media into seven hours during the day. Perhaps unsurprisingly the under 25s are driving the multitasking trend, but the over 55s group are catching up, with over half of people now using broadband internet at home.
Media multitasking makes up one fifth of all media consumed throughout the day. Almost a third of media activity is simultaneous for the 16-24 age group, compared to one eighths of over 55s embracing the trend.
All this multitasking is made possible by UK consumers using a phone for more than one type of communications use. According to the report, smartphone ownership has surged 81 percent from 7.2m users in May 2009 to 12.8m in May 2010. In June this year over a quarter of Brits owned a smartphone, more than double the number two years ago.
Surfing the net via phones is the fastest growing on-the-go media activity with over 1m new users during Q1 of this year alone and now 13.5m people are able to access the web via phones.
Interestingly, despite the meteoric rise of tech multitasking, half of Brits only consume one type of media in the evening and that's good old fashioned live scheduled TV. The average person spends 3 hours 45 minutes in front of the box each day and despite exciting new innovations such as smartphones, TV remains the tech most adults would miss the most.
However, Ofcom has discovered almost a third of households with internet access now watch online catch-up TV, with a quarter of people investing in an HD-ready telly in the last 12 months. Around 5m households have signed up to HD services, leading commentators to believe there is also potential for other services such as 3D and IPTV to grow quickly.
