Millennials tuned in to social TV and multitasking

Channel shifting has evolved – millennials are consuming TV whilst multitasking and tweeting, according to new research.

The research by Deloitte reported that 86% of US consumers flipped between tasks while watching the telly – further research from The Council for Research Excellence/Keller Fay Group  also found that millennials were the age group most likely to engage with social media while watching TV. Those engaged with TV and social media were identified to be particularly, older millennials; 9.6% of 25- to 34-year-olds said they used social media while viewing primetime TV.

Younger millennials ranked second after their older counterparts, those ages 15 to 24, with 9.2% using social media at the same time.

The study revealed that those surfing the web used social media in conjunction with their programme “always” or “almost always” while watching live or timeshifted TV programmes.

Around half of those in the 14-to-24 and 25-to-30 age groups typically used a social network as they watched television.

These figures could suggest new ways of interacting with consumers, as marketers need to adapt to multi-screening and shorter attention spans, especially amongst millennials.