Do "TV viewing time" and "Internet usage time" compete?

〈 Publication Date: May 18, 2011 〉

The Media Innovation Research Department at DENTSU SOKEN INC. launched a joint project with Professor Yoshiaki Hashimoto of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies to understand Japanese information behavior, conducting the "2010 National Survey on Japanese Information Behavior." This time, we present an analysis from that survey focusing on television viewing and internet usage.

Professor Hashimoto's analysis based on the survey results indicates that internet usage does not necessarily reduce television viewing time.

Comparing days when PC internet users "used" the internet with days when they "did not use" it, it was found that on "days of use," television viewing time was actually longer. This indicates that internet usage time does not necessarily eat into television viewing time.

Similarly, analysis of mobile internet users revealed that on days they used mobile internet, television viewing time was longer than on days they did not use it.

So why do television viewing and internet use not compete for time, but rather result in longer television viewing on days the internet is used?

One perspective proposed by Professor Hashimoto is the 'Time Allocation Theory Based on Time Spent at Home'. This theory suggests that, within the limited time spent at home, media consumption time is not competed for, but rather allocated to each medium according to the amount of time available at home.

*For more detailed information on this topic, please refer to the "Information Media White Paper 2011" (compiled by DENTSU SOKEN INC., published by Diamond Inc.).

Media Usage Time by At-Home Category