How Much Do You Watch TV at Home vs. Mobile?

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How Much Do You Watch TV at Home vs. Mobile?

By Scott Wilkinson • Posted: Feb 25, 2011

Steve Guttenberg recently posed an interesting question in his Audiophiliac blog—Will you still watch TV at home in 10 years? He points out that people don't listen to much music at home any more thanks to the iPod and other portable music players, and he wonders if the same thing will happen to video with the iPad and smartphones.

I sure as hell hope we'll still be watching TV at home in 10 years—I know I will be if I'm still around—but I also recognize that this activity is becoming more mobile, especially among younger viewers. Still, I expect both forms of TV consumption to remain viable for a long time—at home for the big-screen, high-quality experience and on a mobile device to pass the commute time (assuming you don't drive to and from work!).

Guttenberg's question got me wondering about the time our readers spend watching TV at home versus on the go—what is that ratio for you? When you cast your vote, select the ratio that most closely reflects your viewing habits. It will be very interesting to see the distribution of responses, and perhaps I'll run this question again in a year or two—or 10—to see how that distribution changes.

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Comments

Submitted by uavtheo on February 28, 2011 - 10:27am.

Scott,

Good question and I think you're on the cusp of a transitional period here. Specifically, Netflix possibly dominates this shift in viewing habits. You therefore need an active Internet connection and a device to perform this. Yes, you can also have iTunes downloads, etc.

With Netflix as I've observed, this is entering the area of convenience. It's OK to watch a show on an iPhone but it's much better to watch it on an iPad. The portable viewing experience is night and day.

I am noticing commuters and people more and more starting to shift to watching shows on their mobile devices, but I perceive that it is more dominated by books, magazines, and web sites. Shows are there but you clearly need a large block of uninterrupted time to watch and you need an Internet connection for that and a service to subscribe to. I think it's telltale that you have the stats you have now. I think that this will increase over time and will take off more when the devices have larger screens and constant Internet connections.

Remember too that the readership here probably skews towards the quality of the experience as opposed to just the convenience of the experience.