TV Just Isn’t Enough to Hold Our Attention

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More and more Americans are multitasking while they watch television.   A new study by Nielsen, the company that measures TV ratings, finds that a majority of us use devices like smartphones, tablets and e-readers while we’re also watching TV.

Here are some stats from the study:

• Of Americans who own tablets, 42% use their device while they watch television.
• About the same percentage of smartphone users – 40% – turn on their headsets while they’re watching a show.
• Just 14% of e-reader owners use their device every day as they're watching a television show.
• Only 12% of tablet owners and 13% of smartphone owners never use their devices while they watch TV.
• A large percentage – 45% – of e-reader users never pick up their device when a program is on.

What are all those people doing as they watch TV? According to Nielsen:

• 60% check their e-mail while the TV is on, and almost the same percentage – 59% – check e-mails during commercials.
• Surfing the web for information that isn’t related to the show they’re watching is the norm for 46% of us, while 45% are looking up information about the show that’s on.
• 42% of respondents check in with social networks while 30% check sports scores.