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The web traffic directed toward this blog has been spiking in recent times either when a World Cup match is going on or before & after American Idol. I had found this to be strangely weird since I wondered why would people surf the net during television’s prime time. Wouldn’t they be busy watching TV or wouldn’t you watch the program first before getting on the Net to look for related content? But I was wrong.
New data from Nielsen//NetRatings shows that television web sites see a spike in usage during prime time. During the month of February, 40 percent of the time spent on NBC.com was spent between the hours of 8pm and 11pm EST. Competitors ABC and Fox also did well, with 30 percent of the time spent at ABC and 26 at Fox occurring during prime time [source: ars technica].
It seems that people are multi-tasking and using laptops and wifi to surf the Internet while watching television. For e.g. just after Sanjaya sings on American Idol, people hop on the Net and start looking for Sanjaya-related content like, songs, hairstyles, and pictures. If there is a Shyamali sighting in the audience, searches for “Sanjaya’s sister” are more frequent than other times. Of course, these are my personal observations based on my blog hit counter. “Sitting on the TV with a laptop while watching the idiot box is a lot more common.” Ash is more of a lap-top television user while I prefer sitting at a table and since our television cannot be seen from any table in the house, I rarely multi-task this way.
Although the combined consumption of the Internet and television is growing, I don’t think it is a healthy combination. Firstly, because your attention is never equally divided between the two and usually the television just drones on in the background. Why have it on when you aren’t watching it? Second, the screen resolution difference between the two mediums wreaks havoc on your eyes. The television is meant for distant viewing whereas the laptop screen facilitates closeup viewing. Alternating frequently between the two mediums can be extremely harmful to your eyes.
Where is your desktop located in the house? Do you surf the net on your laptop while watching TV? How is your experience?
by Patrix | on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 3:50 pm | 
Television, World Wide Web . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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April 11th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Laptop TV for me.. If there’s something so interesting on TV, I can always stop focussing on the lappie! A lot of times I use it just with my ears and not the eyes. and if I need such high concentration (usually have 4 chats 1 voice call on :p at the same time) or maybe low noise levels in the room (like when on voice calls or phone) then the TV can always switch off :).
BTW I finally saw American idol today.. (had just watched some blooper episodes earlier and some initial selection rounds in cities. And while watching the thingy, I did wonder if you would be live blogging or something or blogging immediately after it! And here we are :p :)
April 11th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
“Sitting on the TV …”, eh ?
April 11th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I watch TV shows on the net (my laptop)!
How about that? :)
April 11th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Twilight, LOL! I don’t live-blog American Idol but there are plenty who do. I just write some ‘interesting’ tidbits. And about your “hearing the TV” funda, I read somewhere that it can be detrimental to your focus and concentration levels in the long run. Good for you if you can mult-task. Just don’t tell the people who are chatting with that you are doing so many things :)
Bloghopper, strange, nah? Would make a weird sight. I got that line from the linked article. Tried making sense. Care to give it a shot?
Piker, you are a breed apart but I was in that tribe not too long ago. I prefer laid back nature of TV watching as compared to interactiveness of laptop viewing sometimes.
April 11th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I very rarely use the laptop at home. Maybe weekends I’ll have both.. but right now, i do have the laptop and the TV on..just for the noise.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Patrix,
You raise a great point. I do the same as ash. laptop and tv is on in the background. it gives me a feeling that some one else is there to keep me company. makes it feel a lil bit more lively i guess.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
What Patrix observes is true. I’ve also noticed the same thing.
But I think ppl use the net only when they don’t have access to TV.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
Sqrl, rarely use the laptop at home? Wow! that would need tremendous amount of restrain from my part.
Pranav, don’t mind but that sounded real sad :)
Ashwin, glad we agree. However, I see the balance shifting as people will need more flexibility with their TV programming. We don’t like to be chained to the network schedules.
April 12th, 2007 at 4:39 am
Interesting.. I have to admit there have been times when I have had both on without really focussing on either!
April 12th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Patrix -
True. That’s one good reason why ppl watch in PC coz of schedule. Two other reasons that I can think off is:
- Ppl dont like to pay and watch when they get things for free. When I was in Chennai, we didn’t have STB. I watched all the things in my PC only. :D
- Ppl dont like to wait for the favorite programs when they’re not able to see it fast enough. TV shows like Lost are almost 5-6 months delayed in India. Even in the USA, West coasters see faster than the east coasters and these ppl download/watch online. :D Even I’m guilty of these things.
No longer they’re in mercy of the idiot box. Having said all this, I would still prefer to watch in TV unless I’m compelled to watch otherwise.