Executive Summary
While growth in consumers’ total time spent with media has nearly stalled, time with digital is still increasing—slightly offsetting continued declines in time spent with TV and other old media.
Is time spent with media still rising?
Just slightly. We estimate that time spent with media this year by US adults (ages 18+) will average 12 hours, 9 minutes per day. That’s up just 1 minute from 2018. But time spent with digital keeps rising significantly as time with traditional media declines.
What are the main winners and losers in time spent?
Digital video is a big winner. Digital audio is also gaining. TV is the big loser, as penetration declines and time spent falls, even among those who remain as viewers. (And TV penetration among adults falls below internet user penetration for the first time.) Within digital, desktop/laptop is a loser as more and more time spent goes to mobile.
Is time spent with smartphones still rising?
It is, though less so than earlier in the decade when penetration rose steeply. The slower gains in penetration still boost smartphone time across the total adult population. So do increases in time spent among users as people get more mileage out of their phones.
Are US adults cutting back on time with social networks?
Not yet. But growth in time spent has nearly stalled, partly as Facebook users reduce time spent there. Desktop/laptop social time is nearly disappearing—dwindling to just 3 minutes per day this year, vs. 49 minutes for mobile—as social usage becomes almost entirely mobile.