News

15/7/2003

Listening to Music Tops the List of Most Important Home Media Activities

Consumers find more value in listening to music than in watching TV or using the PC

When queried about their favorite daily media activities, more consumers found value in listening to music than in using a PC or even watching TV, according to Parks Associates' Electronic Living @ Home. This new consumer research project reports that almost 60% of U.S. heads-of-household ranked listening to music as important in their daily life, ahead of watching TV, using the PC, and a host of other home media activities.

"Given that 75% of U.S. households now own two or more TVs, and that on average a household watches TV at least seven hours per day, there is no doubt that TV is the most frequently used media device in the home," said Michael Greeson, vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates. "However, when consumers are asked about the most important media activity, music tops the list."

In the survey for Electronic Living @ Home, consumers were asked to evaluate the importance of specific media activities frequently undertaken in the home, including watching TV, using the PC, listening to music, watching movies, organizing and sharing photographs, and watching self-created home movies.

While listening to music ranked highest among heads-of-household in general, results varied within different age and income segments. For example, while listening to music ranked highest among heads-of-household between the ages of 18 and 24, using the PC topped the list among heads-of-household ages 45 to 54, and watching TV finished first among heads-of-household aged 65 and older.

Electronic Living @ Home is Parks Associates' most recent primary consumer research project and features data from two separate consumer surveys: the first, a telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. households fielded in March 2003; the second, an Internet survey of 1,300 U.S. Internet households fielded in April 2003. These surveys cover the entire connected-home space: from personal computing devices and consumer electronics ownership to Internet connectivity and interest in next-generation broadband-enabled services.

www.parksassociates.com