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You Are Still Watching a Staggering Amount Of TV Every Day (recode.net) 188

Posted by msmash from the love-hate-relationship-with-TV dept.
Peter Kafka, reporting for Recode:TV! It's cooked! Toast! Doneso. Ready for the fork. Except not yet, because Americans are still watching a ton of TV, every day. For some of them, it's the equivalent of a full-time job. The average American watches an astonishing 4.5 hours of TV a day, according to a new report from Nielsen. Add in DVR time, and that number gets up to 5 hours a day. That usage is shrinking over time -- a couple of years ago, Americans were averaging five hours and twenty-three minutes a day.Nielsen's data also shows that people are now consuming more content on their smartphone devices than ever. Compared to just 47 minutes usage in 2014, it is now up to one hour and 39 minutes.
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You Are Still Watching a Staggering Amount Of TV Every Day More

You Are Still Watching a Staggering Amount Of TV Every Day

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  • in before... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:02PM (#52400233)

    In before this guy posts:
    http://www.theonion.com/article/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel-429

    • Re:in before... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Yvan256 ( 722131 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:09PM (#52400285) Homepage Journal

      That's nothing, I don't even have Internet!

      Starting right no%$@#^YY%$#WA=NO CARRIER

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tnk1 ( 899206 )

      I do own TVs, but our cable broke a couple of years ago, and I couldn't be arsed to get it fixed. Admittedly, there's just the wife and I with the dog, but no one seemed to care.

      When we moved, we got internet service, but not cable. It hasn't really changed much.

      You might suggest that we watch shows on Netflix or Hulu and on YouTube or something, and that's true, but only very occasionally. I don't think I've watched a single show regularly in years.

      That said, I occupy my time with lots and lots of video

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        VR glasses that you can hook to your phone are going to drive a major change and not the crappy clunky ones you buy now. Smartly designed ones you buy at the optometrists, where you have the ideal lenses specifically ground and fitted, that are slipped in the VR glasses (gone are the bulky adjustable poorly shaped lenses, circular, I mean really?) to keep them as compact and light as possible. Forget the stupid googles, a simple slip on foam shroud fits over the glasses to produce a light seal between the

  • 4.5 hours a day? That's really sad. (Score:3)

    by kheldan ( 1460303 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:05PM (#52400257) Journal
    If I'm lucky, I have enough downtime to actually sit and watch a whole hour a day, and that's while I'm eating dinner. If I didn't have a DVR, it wouldn't even be that much. Where is it that anyone these days hase 4.5 hours of free time to sit in front of a television?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      If I'm lucky, I have enough downtime to actually sit and watch a whole hour a day, and that's while I'm eating dinner. If I didn't have a DVR, it wouldn't even be that much. Where is it that anyone these days hase 4.5 hours of free time to sit in front of a television?

      For me to average even an hour a night would take some planning in itself. I've read before that these numbers are seriously skewed by the elderly (especially in nursing homes), hospital rooms, and the unemployed. If these groups were compensated for I wonder what the average would truly be.

      • You do understand that an average of 4.5 hours a day means that out of six people, one has the set on 24 hours a day, and the other nine have it on for an hour a day.
        And I know some of those people who have the thing on 24 hours a day. I don't think that they even know where the off switch is-- I don't think they even know that it has an off switch

        • Re:How averages work (Score:5, Funny)

          by CrimsonAvenger ( 580665 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @05:22PM (#52401703)

          You do understand that an average of 4.5 hours a day means that out of six people, one has the set on 24 hours a day, and the other nine have it on for an hour a day.

          So, out of six people, one watches all the time, and the other NINE watch a bit? Seriously, out of six people, the one + nine watch it??

        • Quite a number of people have the TV on just to give some background noise - a cheesy soap opera is better than silence.

    • Basic 9 to 5 job only, out the door even if there's work to be done (ie, not an engineer). Home by 6, flip on the TV to watch the news, sports, Jeopardy, then whatever MustWatchTV series of the day. Meanwhile one spouse is at home with a kid, TV is on by 10am, with kids programs, left running during the soaps while doing housework or napping, etc.

      Basically outside of Silicon Valley where you don't need both spouses working just to afford a house, it's much more common for one to be at home most of the day

      • What fantasy are you living in?
        The "9 to 5" job has been 8 to 5 for ages, with a 1 hour lunch break and two 15 minute breaks that no one takes.
        Most people get up at 7 and get home at 6 or later.

        • Yeah, that doesn't include commuting time either which averages to 50 minutes round trip per day. So figure 10 hours per day working for a normal "8 hour" work day. Assuming 8 hours of recommended sleep time, that only leave 6 more hours in the day. The average american needs a hobby...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tnk1 ( 899206 )

          If you work in a union shop on the clock, you take those breaks on-time and whether you like it or not. The hour lunch is fine, but I recall not knowing what the heck to do with my 15 minute break except sit at the picnic table in the break room and stare at some newspapers. Not saying that the break was not welcome, but I suppose I'd prefer a little flexibility.

          Now, most of the jobs I have worked the last 20 years since the union job, you generally work more, but you're more free to take time off. As on

        • That describes my day... 8 to 5 eat at my desk with how every many 5 minute breaks to pee, get a cup of coffee, etc...

    • I could get 6 hours a day if all I did was work and watch TV. The most TV I watch in a sitting is Saturday cartoons with the kids while my coffee kicks in so I can make breakfast. If I sit for longer then two hours I start to get frigidity and have to get up and do something.
    • I wonder what the median would be... we usually watch about an hour in the evening once we get the kids to bed. I can't imagine watching 4.5 hours. Even when we had a newborn and no energy to do anything but sit in front of the TV, 2 hours (or a little over for a movie) was about as much as we ever did.
    • Plenty of people watch various net videos like youtube or porn, but dont consider it television.

    • Called it!

      https://entertainment.slashdot... [slashdot.org]

    • Re:4.5 hours a day? That's really sad. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MitchDev ( 2526834 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @03:43PM (#52400987)

      Do they count "Doing something else but have the TV on in the background"?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        Absolutely. Those are the best kind. The subliminal advertising works best if you think you're not paying attention.

    • I have a TV, but I sure as shit don't watch 4.5 hours a day. When I do watch something it's usually a movie, maybe ~90 minutes or so, maybe once or twice a month on average. I just have other things I'd rather do. If other people want to watch TV all day long, more power to them, I have no problem with it.

      I am curious though, who are these people who are glued to their TVs??

    • It depends how they actually count the hours too. If it just counts time when the TV is on, but people may or may not be in the room the number is going to be greatly inflated compared to hours of TV people actively watched. I know lots of people who leave the TV on all day even as they go about their business just to have some background noise in the house. Personally I've never seen the appeal, but it's apparently comforting to people.

      DVR hours should count much more since they presumably represent someone sitting down and selecting a show to watch. But even then I've seen plenty of cases where the TV is left on while someone reads Facebook or plays a game or does some paperwork.

    • Where is it that anyone these days has 4.5 hours of free time to sit in front of a television?

      I hate to say it, but retirees in Florida certainly do...I've witnessed it first hand after moving there to help my parents take care of my grandmother. From the time their feet hit the ground until it's time for bed, they've got Fox News on. Next door neighbors...Fox News. Barber shop...Fox News. The gym, the bars, the blood donation facility...basically anyplace with a TV. It's all the same, it's non-stop, and it's disturbing. And my experience doesn't seem to be unique:

      http://www.salon.com/2014/02/ [salon.com]

  • The headline would appear to direct the assessment it makes about those who read the article, but I read the story and I only watch about 5 hours a week. I may not be typical, but then the headline still uses the second person pronoun.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

      I don't know what I count as. I only willingly watch maybe a couple of movies per week, so 3-5 hours. However, the kids usually watch a little around dinner time, and the wife has it on almost constantly from 7-11 p.m. I try to ignore it, but if I'm in the room I'll find myself staring at it some and struggling to get other things done. Call me a TV hostage, I guess?

  • DEC Tag? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FunkSoulBrother ( 140893 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:07PM (#52400275)

    What the heck does this have to do with the Digital Equipment Corporation?

    • Re:DEC Tag? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Yvan256 ( 722131 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:12PM (#52400305) Homepage Journal

      Is DEC still even around? I vote that Slashdot takes down the DEC logo since the editors seem to be too young to understand that Digital is/was a company. Putting their logo on this story is as pointless as putting Apple's logo on a story about fruits vendors on street corners.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by OzPeter ( 195038 )

      What the heck does this have to do with the Digital Equipment Corporation?

      Because these youngsters don't even remember/know that DEC was a company so when they see the "digital" tag they associate it with some sort of digital system like streaming digital content off the internet.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        Because these youngsters don't even remember/know that DEC was a company so when they see the "digital" tag they associate it with some sort of digital system like streaming digital content off the internet.

        Given the demise of DEC, I've been seeing their logo literally everywhere - seems once the trademark expired, everyone googles for "digital logo" and up it pops, trademark free.

        I've seen it on "digital" music effects boxes as well...

    • Re:DEC Tag? (Score:4, Funny)

      by ShaunC ( 203807 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:17PM (#52400351)

      I'll have you know I'm streaming 12 hours of Netflix on my Alpha every day!

    • average American watches an astonishing 4.5 hours of TV a day

      What the heck does this have to do with the Digital Equipment Corporation?

      "It's all connected. You're seeing the fish flopping, it's the fish flopping. I'm telling you weird stuff like this happens just before the tsunami. When rivers run backwards that should be a warning sign. Next birds will fly backwards and people will just grunt at it, if tomorrows a decent down day, look out next week. I got a tingly feeling here, tingly like as in people are turning in expectations, this could get ugly..."

      Saw this on an Internet forum once and it comes to mind at odd moments, usually whe

  • Nielsen Wants You to Think They Are Still Relevant (Score:4, Interesting)

    by RobotRunAmok ( 595286 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:08PM (#52400277)
    The fact of the matter is that they have been struggling for years to keep pace with the barrage of new video consumption choices Americans have. They still don't have a handle on it. And there are many in the broadcast/cable industry who uphold they never really had a good grasp (Those diaries! seriously...?) of who was watching what. Their customers are the broadcasters, not, say YouTube channels or Twitch feeds, so they will always have that bias...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by OzPeter ( 195038 )

      The fact of the matter is that they have been struggling for years to keep pace with the barrage of new video consumption
      choices Americans have.

      Streaming services like Netflix have a perfect idea as to what people are watching. But I have a vague recollection that they don't publicly release their stats.

      • Exactly right, Netflix does not reveal it, and why should they? And HBO knows exactly how many people are watching their shows through HBO Go. The content owners of the so-called Over-The-Top distribution of video programming have a granular and Nielsen-free handle on those numbers.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Hylandr ( 813770 )

          Not to mention Nielsen ratings are only valid for the demographic that participates in Nielsen ratings.

          There's more to the consumption pie than the Nielson participants can possibly represent.

  • but not "watching" it. background/white noise.
  • Please stop generalizing.

  • No TV for over 15 years now (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I pretty much have no idea what's going on in the world of media. I can't even name one movie that's in theatres. And I fucking LOVE IT.

  • my wife hates it and wants them to watch story based TV shows. but now that i remember i didn't much like that crap in the 80's either. it was just mindless time killing because we only had a few channels and no choice what to watch

    • My kids keep wanting to watch YouTube videos but my problem isn't with them watching more story-based shows, but the quality of random YouTube channels. For example, they love watching people playing video games (either ones they own to get tips/tricks on gameplay or ones they know I'll never buy them because we just don't have enough money to buy every game ever released). There are some great gamer YouTube channels, but also ones where the video starts innocently enough but then delves into language tha

      • yeah, i know all about FGEETV as well. back in the 80's all this crap was pushed in magazines you had to buy so nothing has really changed.

  • There is some amazing content being put on Youtube these days. Watching various makers and machinists on youtube is fascinating stuff for some of us. Or the guy building a 74-foot steel chinese junk in Oklahoma! Between them and the science channels I track, I watch about 30 minutes of youtube each evening.

    I also often watch episodes of classic TV shows in the evening, British and American, often from various internet sources.

    That does add up, though. Maybe 30-60 minutes a day. Not sure what people are watching to get 4.5 hours a day though! What's actually on TV these days?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      I concur. I just got done watching a fascinating NOVA series on human evolution.

      Upright walking apes seem to have had been around for roughly 4 million years, at least, with small chimp-like brains and NOT using (shaped) stone tools. They probably still used trees to escape from predators. There were several species and it was a viable niche; and for 4 million years these creatures remained mostly as-is.

      But around 2 million years ago the climate of Africa started swinging wildly. This appears to have favore

  • Editors: You have no clue as to what "Digital" or DEC even has to do with technology. Take two minutes and read Wikipedia article first. This is doing nothing but insulting your dwindling reader base.

  • Breakdown of Stats (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Amtrak ( 2430376 ) on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:21PM (#52400379)
    I would be really interesting to see some sort of demographic break down on those TV numbers regarding things like income level, geographical location, employment, etc. I have a gut feeling that TV viewing has gone up in some demographics and down in others. Honestly I don't even know many people who watch more than 4.5 hours of TV a week much less a day. But most of my friends play video games instead of watch tv so it's not like we have any stones to throw about sitting on the couch to much.
  • Yesterday, the average American watched 3 hours of TV per day [slashdot.org]. Today, it's 4.5 hours. They both can't be right, so which is it?

  • I had completely written off normal OTA TV until recently.

    Here is my entertainmentflow these days:

    - Is there anything in my Hulu queue?
    - Is there any episodes left in my current series binge on Netflix or Amazon?
    - Is there any good PBS shows on OTA (Frontline, Downton Abby, etc)?
    - Watch Buzzr (old game shows) on OTA and play WoW

  • Let Me Tell You About Neilsen (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:30PM (#52400453)

    Those assholes came to my door once asking if I would like to be a "Nielsen" household. They went over the details, and even offered money for the bother.

    Let me tell you, whatever they offer, it is not worth it. They come in and connect a comm closet full of equipment to your TV so they can intercept whatever video is being fed to your TV. That would be fine, except their equipment causes all kinds of compatibility issues. They also insist on installing their software on any PC you watch streaming services on. That would also be fine, except their software also collects your non-media browsing habits, and has a keylogger so I can only assume they steal your passwords as well (I only installed their SW in a virtual machine).

    But that's just the tip of the iceberg. I told these guys that I rarely watch TV. Perhaps once every couple of weeks when I'm too tired to do something more valuable with my time.

    If you don't watch TV for 24 hours, the phone rings. If you don't watch TV for 48 hours, the phone rings every 30 minutes until you answer. They harass you CONSTANTLY to watch more TV. After 5 days they actually send someone to your home to find out why you're not watching TV.

    When you _are_ watching TV, you have to hit control buttons on their box every half an hour or so, or the harassment increases.

    After about 2 weeks I called them up and told them to come get their shit off my front porch.

    • The trick is to tell them you don't have a landline phone. You fill out a survey by hand and mail it back at the end of the reporting period.

    • I hear you. I agreed to let them monitor our activity but during the initial setup over the phone they started bemoaning about streaming video to my chromebook and trying to say that I can't play video files form my personal library over my network via kodi (vs streaming from the web), so I said forget about it. You'd have to be really hard up for money and not tech savvy at all to work inside their monitoring program successfully.

  • The normal [youtu.be]

  • ...because more people are watching videos on Netflix and Amazon, skipping the ads. Since there are about 20 minutes of ads per hour, I'd guess that the time spent watching actual CONTENT is UP.

  • Young people => no tv. Old people => stuck before their tv. No surprise. This is also why the average lower with time : old people aren't eternal and youngling do not pick up their tv habits.

  • I have 3-4 hours after work. Total! I divide that between TV, Internet, feeding my face, and other crap. I probably see about an hour or 2 of TV, and that includes Netflix.

  • Who the hell has time for that?
    As a average it sounds terrible, I suppose some people have the TV on from the time they come home until they go to bed?

    • While I can't watch that much TV, I do frequently half-watch shows. I'll have the TV on while doing something else. If the show is particularly interesting, I'll pay attention. But if it isn't, then it just ends up as background noise.

  • You -

    Done. Fuck clickbait. Humanity is not a single homogenous mass. We are all individuals (except that guy).

  • But I spend too much time on Slashdot.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • "You" (Score:2)

    by epine ( 68316 )

    You Are Still Watching a Staggering Amount Of TV Every Day

    How about the following?

    Collectively, Americans Still Watch a Staggering Amount Of TV Every Day

    Yeah, it's not perfect either, but the original version is already wrong after the first word.

    Couldn't stupidity pinch its wee-wee for three whole words until we get to "watch"—whatever that actually means when the viewer is sitting on the couch with a baby, an iPhone, an iPad, some weed, and a small stack of medical disability claim forms.

  • I'm still watching a lot of TV, but I'm streaming most of it over the internet, and 20% of it is porn anyway...
  • I've seen american TV. There isn't 4.5 hours of watchable stuff in a day.

    • True, but there is 24 hours of crap on every day !

      *zing!*

      --
      Unreality Crap Shows, noun, Someone's fake life that passes for reality on TV. Examples include: The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Kartrashians, etc.

  • What really impressed me is that the stat is 4.5 hours of LIVE TV. I occasionally watch the local news while eating breakfast... that averages to maybe 30 minutes per week. That's the only time I ever watch live TV. With DVRs, and netflix / various internet options, I can very rarely find a compelling reason to watch live TV.

    The only other time I watched something live was the presidential debates, but that was streamed from the internet. I don't know what category that should fall in.

  • watch != engaged.
    I often turn the TV on while I'm making dinner or puttering about...

  • Haven't turned a television on in at least three weeks. I'm glad someone is picking up my slack.

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