TV Time

[surodat]

I read an article in the paper today about Nielson Media Research has the average TV viewing up to 142 hours a month.

About 4.7 hours a day, every day.

I'm out the door weekday mornings at 7:30, and back home at 6. If I watched TV 5 hours a day I would have time for nothing else.

Does the average person have no life?

[Twoflower]

the average person lets the TV run all day long. That does not mean that they actualy watch it.

[Eliandor]

I read an article in the paper today about Nielson Media Research has the average TV viewing up to 142 hours a month.

About 4.7 hours a day, every day.

I'm out the door weekday mornings at 7:30, and back home at 6. If I watched TV 5 hours a day I would have time for nothing else.

Does the average person have no life?

I think it is a combination of TV viewing while at work, gym/exercise club, people with shorter commutes than you, people not working a full 8 hours (part time, students, spouses, retired) that skew the average. It all depends on how many people they ask and count in their survey sample. Statistics are tricky.

[clevins]

New Nielsen report came out on US TV watching. For those of you outside the US, Nielsen is a company that has been measuring US TV viewer habits since the 50s - their measurements of how many people watch a show are key in determining ad rates and the success of TV shows.

The web and games are killing TV? We're all no life losers for spending more than an hour or so on WoW? Umm....

The average US person watched 142 hours of TV per month last year. That's almost 5 hours each and every night of a 30 day month. So the next time I see people on these or other forums pointing out how anyone who plays WoW a lot is wierd.... I'm pointing to this study.

Press release with link to study and summary here: http://www.nielsen.com/media/2008/pr_081124.html

[Kodonn]

:shocked: ooops.

What's it do to the stats if I have the TV on while I'm playing WoW every evening?

[Super Sneaky Steve]

pfft! if you read stats like that then you obviously have no life! ;)

[clevins]

K - Yeah, I'm sure some of the time spent watching is actually time when the screen is just on, but Nielsen typically does a good job measuring that. But even if 50% of the time the TV doesn't have full attention that's ~70 hours per month. To relate that to my WoW playing... I can move a full level every 8-10 hours of pretty casual play - just questing and killing mobs, no instances. So in the same time someone spends in front of a TV I can level to 80 in well under a month.

The larger point is, of course, that most of us have a ton of free time, we just spend it differently. But there's no way I'm taking guff from the people who watch 140+ hours of TV a month about gaming. :grin:

[Dakiter]

Thanks for sharing this Clevins. This is just a little more ammo.

The other night I was out with the girl and a mutual friend over heard us making plans for which character we were gonna work on the next day and he started to make fun of us. The whole basement dweller thing, no life nonsense.

I responded by saying that my average week consists of me working 7:30am-4:30om everyday. I have an hour commute on top of that. On mondays my girl bowls and I hangout with her and on tuesdays I play in a dart league. Wednesday I play wow. Thursdays I either play wow or go out and have a drink with some friends, fridays are quiet wow night with the girl. Saturdays I run a Rockband night at a local bar. Sundays I watch football and play wow.

After saying this I looked the him in the eyes and said, I have more of a life then you, are you really gonna tease me about a game?

(edit: Oh and I left out I also bartend here and there to help a buddy out who owns a bar)

[det]

Whaddaya mean "no life?"

WoW is my life..for those ppl TV is....

[jschild]

but Nielsen typically does a good job measuring that.

I didn't realize Nielsen did a good job tracking anything :P

[cbcatanz]

Interesting. I bet, the same people who watch that amount of TV are also the same people who claim playing video games are a juvenile waste of time, then they go and watch hours and hours of TV every night.
I agree that video games are basically a waste of time, but no more than TV. In fact, video games are at least interactive and make you think, to a small degree..
TV shows are so mindless, unless you are watching educational programs, but my guess would be, the people who watch lots of TV are not watching educational programming. Most likely they are watching "Must see TV".......
The only show I consistently watch is South Park. I also like Family Guy, and American Dad, but usually don't catch them on TV. I do watch movies, and TV shows, South Park, Family Guy, and American Dad, on DVD.

[Archania]

cbcatanz... i would like to point out the wii. They have you up and moving and "interacting" with the game. You don't just sit on the couch and press buttons. Have you seen what type of games they are making for it? With the Wii Fit?

[Twoflower]

i merged the 2 threads about the same topic and moved to the OT forum, cause it clearly belongs here :)

your friendly neighborhood mod

[cbcatanz]

cbcatanz... i would like to point out the wii. They have you up and moving and "interacting" with the game. You don't just sit on the couch and press buttons. Have you seen what type of games they are making for it? With the Wii Fit?

Oh yeah, I know. If you read my post again I stated that video games ARE interactive compared to watching TV.

[Gnorl]

I'm always a bit wary of these kinds of things. As a former manager of Aberdeen Football Club in Scotland put it: "Statistics are like miniskirts. They give you good ideas but hide the most important bits".