With the coming of multiscreen era, Australians spend more time using their smartphones now than watching TV.
According to the latest research, Australians spend about six and a half hours each day staring at a screen. However, 113 minutes of that time is usually spent consuming another screen at the same time, thus resulting in a typical daily screen time of just under five hours (or 285 minutes). Only 11% of consumers consume screen time which is “meshed”, meaning the use of a TV and a second screen for related content.
However, apparently Aussies are really good at “stacking” our screens as 28% of local consumers “stack”, meaning we watch something on TV, and use a second screen for unrelated content. This puts us above the global average of 22%.
“The research provides valuable insights for Australian marketers who are under increasing pressure to account to the C-Suite level for every marketing dollar spent” said Mark Henning, head of media and digital, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific (AMAP). “All marketers know their consumers are spending more and more time multiscreening but detailed information as to precisely how they are using these screens is required to successfully plan and execute synergistic multiscreen campaigns. These results show that Australians are comfortable switching between screens but that they require compelling reasons to mesh content.”
Looking towards Aussies’ consumption of screens each day, the report found 132 minutes are spent on smartphones, 125 minutes are spent on TV, 102 minutes on a laptop and 37 minutes on a tablet.
It seems smartphones are generally used throughout the day, spiking more at night, however TVs appear to be consumed much more at night which coincides with people getting home from work.
Tablets appear to be relatively stable in their use throughout the day, whereas laptops seem to dip around 6pm, possibly when people get home from work?
Looking more towards what platform people favour for their ads, it appears TV is a clear winner with 27%, with tablets the least with 12%.
The report also looks into what platform attention to ads is best on, with TV another clear winner with 62%. Laptops come in second with 37%, tablets after with 33% and smartphones coming in last for attention with 31%.
