Study: Web Leaves Less Time for TV

Almost one quarter of adults online said they're watching less television since they started using the Internet, according to a study released Wednesday by New York-based Scarborough Research.

Although television saw the biggest decrease in usage, adults online said they also have cut the time they spend with most traditional media thanks to the Internet. Twenty percent of adults online said they're reading less print magazines since going online, and 15 percent say they have decreased the time they spend reading print newspapers.

Scarborough's findings are based on interviews with more than 2,000 adults online in 64 U.S. cities. It represents the first national Internet study conducted by the well-respected consumer and media researcher.

Most adults online still said they spend just as much time with traditional media now as they did before they started using the Net, according to Scarborough. Almost 70 percent of online adults said they haven't altered the amount of television they view, and 7 percent even said they watch more television. Seventy-three percent say they haven't changed the amount of time they spend reading newspapers, either. What's more, Americans said they have actually increased their radio listening since they started surfing the Web.

Marketers have kept a keen eye on the changes in Net usage and how it might affect traditional media, and research conducted on the subject to date is contradictory. Numerous studies said that Net usage cannibalizes TV viewing, but just as many refute that statement.

Recent data from Nielsen NetRatings suggest that heavy Net users are big consumers of all media, and may not necessarily decrease the time they spend watching television or reading print newspapers because of the Web.

However, changes in media consumption could be a boon for advertisers, who have expanded opportunities to cross-sell their wares. Take television, for example. According to Scarborough, almost half of online adults said their television and computer are located in the same room at home. Ninety-one percent of those adults said they frequently watch TV and surf the Web at the same. With popular shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Survivor, network television succeeded in drawing many of these viewers to the Web.

As for newspapers, a decrease in print readership could suggest that Americans increasingly are getting their news online. Close to half of online adults said they have read an online newspaper in the past month, according to Scarborough. And 55 percent of online newspaper readers said they have read national newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on the Web in the past 30 days.

According to Scarborough, 48 percent of U.S. adults have accessed the Web in the past 30 days. Twenty-seven percent of them said they now spend 10 or more hours on the Web each week, while 50 percent say they spend at least five hours online each week. According to NetRatings, Web users spent on average less than 3.5 hours online per week in early 1999.