Canadians are spending more time online than watching tv says a new survey from Ipsos Reid, the first time that tv has been pushed into second place. Although the younger generation are driving it. Canadians are currently surfing for over 18 hours each week as opposed to less than 17 hours watching tv.

Canadians cant get enough of the net

The survey is, says its author is the turning point where the younger generation who spend much more time online are the driving force. Compared to the older generation who still sit in front of the gogglebox or listen to the radio. Even though oldies of 55 and above were still more likely to spend a longer time watching TV than younger generations, Canadians as a group are spending ever more time on the web, says the survey.

Mark Laver of Ipsos said:- “In previous years we’ve seen significant differences between the generations and the amount of time they spend online. The data indicates that not only are people of all ages spending more and more time online, but it also points to a shift in how online Canadians are consuming media and where they are spending their free time.”

In general, watching tv online has increased markedly over the last year, with the majority using the web as a catch up tv service. Many people have also learned to multitask with research showing that many are on the pc whilst watching traditional TV.

Many are saying that the survey simply shows that modern consumers are just getting information using new technology rather than a move against standard tv. “It can be kind of confusing when we try and set these media up against each other,” said Sidney Eve Matrix, a media professor at Queens University. “If you’re trying to separate time spent on the Internet from time spent watching television, that’s a bit misleading… The Internet is a multimedia world. We consume our newspapers on the Web.”

It will be interesting to see what happens when internet connected tv takes off and users can browse on the same screen as the tv stream. Will that restore tv to its lofty position as number one brain destroyer/entertainment hub.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm and is filed under catch up tv, Internet TV news, Internet TV Websites. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.