Internet Use Cuts Into TV Viewing

Mon., Aug. 17, 1998

The Hollywood Reporter

Does the presence of a computer with Internet access mean less TV is watched? The answer is yes, according to a Nielsen Media Research study commissioned by America Online.

Nielsen, looking at the 4,471 households equipped with its People Meters, discovered that viewers in homes with Internet access watched 15 percent less television than those that didn’t have access.

While the results seem to confirm a suspicion that many people are opting to surf the Web rather watch TV, AOL and Nielsen officials are quick to point out the results don’t specifically point to a cause-and-effect link between Internet surfing and TV viewing.

“What this study does say is that TV is underdelivering in Internet homes, and that the desirable households in the 1990s are Internet homes, much like cable households were” when cable TV was first introduced, said Marshall Cohen, senior vice president of brand development at AOL.

Still, the evidence appears to signal a continued shift in the viewing habits of at least some consumers.

“Very much as the Internet continues to grow, it will take away from the consumption of television,” said Patrick Keane, an analyst at Jupiter Communications. “Networks have been losing audience share for the last eight years, because of cable, gaming and now the Internet.” Keane added, however, that it could be another 10 years before the Web actually takes over as the viewing venue of choice among consumers, though by that time the TV and PC may converge in some respects.

The Nielsen research shows that homes with Internet access watch 6 percent less TV during weekday primetime hours than non-Internet homes. Between the weekday hours of 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., Internetconnected households watch 19 percent less TV than their non-Web counterparts. That translates into an overall TV watching rate that’s 8 percent lower than households with no Internet access.

Further, the study appears to support the notion that Internet-connected households are more upscale by virtue of several factors, including the widely held notion that homes with less TV viewing are generally wealthier. Other factors indicating these households have higher income are the costs of owning a personal computer and the monthly fees for Internet access.

The study was based on separating the Nielsen families with Web access from those that weren’t connected. Nielsen determined that 1,006 households had Web access, while 3,465 did not. Then it tracked the TV viewing habits of those 1,006 households simply to determine if those homes watched less television.

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