US consumers of ages 13 to 17 spend more time with media overall than other age groups do, and their total media time has grown by more than two and a half hours per day since May 2004.
Bridge attributes this change to Generation Y’s skill at consuming two or more of types of media simultaneously.
Among teen Internet users, 7.3 million of the total 9.4 million online in 2006 watched TV while online, and 6.9 million listened to the radio, according to eMarketer calculations based on data from a BIGresearch survey.
Although multitasking extends across all age groups, teens are generally more likely to multitask media than adults.
eMarketer Senior Analyst Debra Aho Williamson says more research is needed to discover exactly how multitasking affects consumers.
"The media and advertising industries must move beyond simply acknowledging that multitasking takes place," Ms. Williamson says, "and support research initiatives that can establish which media are most likely to be ‘foreground,’ or primary, media, and which are more likely to be in the background. In addition, more research must be done to show marketers whether advertising that only receives partial attention is still effective."
Via eMarketer