Almost three quarters or 74% of consumers with a broadband connection claim to surf the internet at the same time as watching TV, a new report said.
The report from Ovum has found that the rise of the “second screen” is now widespread, with 37% of the consumers it spoke to stating that they indulge on a regular basis.
The trend is particularly strong in emerging markets such as India, although the universe of connected households in such countries tends to be still weighted by at least the early majority.
More mature countries such as Japan however also strong uptake with 76% of connected consumers at least occasionally using the second screen.
Ovum’s survey revealed that overall 51% of the consumers it spoke to use the internet to access further news or information related to the TV content they are viewing. Meanwhile, 38% said they use the net to discuss the TV program on social networking sites such as Facebook, an element of the so called “social TV” phenomenon.
These figures rise to 59% and 53% respectively for 16 to 23-year-olds. Activity can differ from country to country however. In Japan for example, social networking in general is not as strong as in some other markets, and therefore social TV of course also lags behind.