Halloween Open Thread > Nielsen finds strong TV-Internet usage overlap

Nearly a third of all household Internet activity in North America takes place while the user watches television, suggesting new and old media often share rather than compete for attention, the Nielsen Company said in a report on Friday.

In fact, the study found that heavy Internet users are among the most dedicated of TV viewers, spending more than 250 hours a month in front of the tube, compared with the 220 hours of television watched by people who never go online.

While 31 percent of in-home online activity occurs at the same time the user is watching TV, the lion's share of all household TV viewership -- almost 96 percent -- takes place apart from the Internet, the Nielsen study found.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, a higher percentage of teenage TV viewing coincides with Internet use, 5.4 percent compared with 3.8 percent for the general population, Nielsen found.