The greatest fear among those in the TV industry – that teens are turning away from television – is not happening. On the contrary, teen TV viewing is increasing at the rate of 2.5% a year, according to a recent Los Angeles Times article.
In the March 9, 2012 article that references a new report titled “Why the Internet won’t Kill TV”, we learn that while teens embrace new platforms like Hulu and YouTube, their consumption of TV continues to grow.
Teens currently watch almost four hours of TV a day, up from roughly three hours spent in front of TV in 2004. In comparison, teens on average watch only three minutes of video a day via computer or smartphone.
4 hours vs. 3 minutes. No reason, in my opinion, for TV executives or advertisers to be pacing the floors at night.
Will TV eventually fall from grace? I’m sure it will. “Everything” does. But the key word here is “eventually.”
The LA Times article goes on to say that even if there were indications of teens watching less TV, it would take at least two decades “before it significantly impacts the size of valuable TV audiences for advertisers.”
Not two days or two months or two years, but TWO DECADES.
At the risk of sounding overly simplistic, I would argue that worrying about TV’s eventual demise, at this point in time, makes as much sense as riding your bike to work because you’re worried about the eventual depletion of fossil fuel.
Neither is imminent.
