June 25, 2009 4:51 PM PDT
Myths and realities of teen media trends
Nielsen is out with a new report on media consumption by teens and the results are counter-intuitive to what we commonly believe to be the norm. According to the How Teens Use Media report (PDF), "teens exhibit media habits that are more similar to the total population than not."
Key takeaways from the report:
- Teens are not abandoning TV for new media: In fact, they watch more TV than ever, up 6 percent over the past five years in the U.S.
- Teens love the Internet, but spend far less time browsing than adults: Teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month online. Far below the average of 29 hours and 15 minutes.
- Teens watch less online video than most adults, but the ads are highly engaging to them: Teens spend 35 percent less time watching online video than adults 25-34, but recall ads better when watching TV shows online than they do on television.
- Teens read newspapers, listen to the radio, and even like advertising more than most: Teens who recall TV ads are 44 percent more likely to say they liked the ad.
- Teens play video games, but their tastes aren't all for the blood-and-guts style games. Just two of their top five most-anticipated games since 2005 have been rated "Mature."
- Teens' favorite TV shows, top Web sites and genre preferences across media are mostly the same as their parents: For U.S. teens, American Idol was the top show in 2008, Google the top website and general dramas are a preferred TV genre for teens around the world.
One of the more interesting findings from the report is the realization that today's teens are not uniquely wired, but are an "artifact of larger, demographically broader shifts in media behavior. Teens are wildly different--not from other consumers today, but from teens of generations past."
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Dave Rosenberg dishes up "Software, Interrupted" with nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience that spans from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs to open-source enterprise software companies. He is co-founder of MuleSource and currently serves as the general manager of Hardy Way. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can contact Dave via e-mail at softwareinterrupted@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @daveofdoom. 
Remember that you are viewing (and have obviously spent time creating an account for) a website devoted to technology. The average exists, at least in part, because there are teens like us that spend copious amounts of time on the internet, and others who spend there times playing sports and interacting with a mythical orb known as "the sun".
There are also a lot of disillusioned people who think that the "Idol" family of shows is good television.
Also, the marketing team for Kricket needs to be completely replaced. I can't take hearing another person disrepect "Respect."
If you use Nielsen data, 1 out of 5 households don't even have a PC; 14% of households with teens don't have Internet access; 11% of them have dial-up.... I think the difference in common perception vs. "average teen" data just shows the difference in access and technology use across teen segments.
(data from December, 2008 Overview of Home Internet Access in the U.S. report http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/overview-of-home-internet-access-in-the-us-jan-6.pdf)
I have two teens on the opposite side of this scale. One will stay on the computer for hours on end, if I let him. The other barely uses it, but watches several shows on TV.
- by karpenterskids June 26, 2009 11:35 AM PDT
- Teens read newspapers? Yeah right...
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- by screamapillar June 28, 2009 6:49 PM PDT
- It seems hard enough to get adults to read newspapers let alone teens...
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