Traditional Media Growth Dips as Digital Grows

Usage of traditional media in the US dropped 2.4% in 2015 while digital media use jumped 33.5%, according to a new report from PQ Media. The drop puts traditional media usage at 46.8 hours a week and PQ Media predicts it will continue to decline at a 2.1% compounded annual rate through 2019. That would put it down more than 10 hours per week going back to 2009.

Total media use rose 0.1% in 2015 to 64.7 hours per week. PQ Media projects media use to rise 0.7% through 2019 to 67 hours per week. Television remains the most used media in both traditional and digital with consumers looking at 32.4 hours per week or a 50.2% share. PQ Media says TV remains strong because of the expansion of devices with which consumers can access programming, including TV sets, over-the-top (OTT) video, laptop computers and smart phones. PQ includes the scripted shows created for non-TV sets in its TV watching. In 2015, the amount of time spent with ad supported media was overtaken by the amount of time spent with subscription media, PQ Media said. Time spent with ad supported media is expected to drop to 46% by 2019. Digital media uses will rise at a 7.3% rate, hitting 23.9 hours in 2019, PQ Media says. The fastest growing digital media channel in the U.S. was mobile video, which was up 33.5% in 2015. Mobile video usage was up 26.9%.