What are young people doing online while watching TV?

In July, the NHK Institute for Broadcasting Culture released the findings of its "Japanese People and Television 2015" survey, revealing that over half of respondents in their late teens and twenties sometimes find online videos more interesting than television.

Recently, television and online video are increasingly contrasted as both belonging to the visual media category.

However, from the perspective of young people themselves, it may be that they aren't consciously comparing them before choosing which medium to consume. Instead, they might simply become engrossed in online videos because they find them interesting, and "before they know it," their engagement with other media has dwindled.

If this results in reduced television viewing, one could argue that television and online video are competing for the same role. But is that really the case?

DENTSU SOKEN INC. Media Innovation Research Department conducted a detailed survey targeting people in their 20s, focusing specifically on their activities at home during a particular hour on a specific day in March 2015.

Participants using internet devices at a given time were divided into two groups: those also watching TV at that time and those not watching TV. The purpose of their internet device use was then examined.

Five areas showed distinctive differences in usage rates between the two groups: "search," "news/information gathering," "games," "SNS/social networking sites," and "video sharing sites."

Regarding video sharing sites, usage rates in the group "watching TV at the same time" were in the 4% range, while usage rates in the group "not watching TV at the same time" ranged from 20% to 23%.

This confirms that video sharing sites are online services less likely to be used simultaneously with television viewing.

In contrast, for the other four categories, the group that was watching TV at the same time actually showed higher usage rates.