Social TV conversations are a popular activity with US smartphone owners, according to analysis of a new second screen study by Social TV experts Futurescape.
More than half (54%) take part in Social TV chats with friends about their TV viewing.
US Social TV Participation – by Second Screen Devices
(Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau, USA, 18+, January 2015.)
The findings appear in the latest research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Changing TV Experience: Attitudes and Usage Across Multiple Screens.
The January 2015 study found that 78% of those surveyed simultaneously use another device while watching traditional TV, with smartphones being the predominant second screen. More than two-thirds (69%) of smartphone users regularly conduct activities on their mobile during TV viewing.
This multiscreening behaviour is rising, with 40% of smartphone users saying that they have increased their multiscreening activity over the past year.
For Social TV engagement, communicating with friends about a TV show or movie is the most popular activity for smartphone users, with 54% doing so.
More than a third of PC and tablet owners also take part in Social TV chats: PC owners (38%) and tablet owners (37%).
The top activity for PC and tablet owners is searching for information about a TV show or movie or actor, with 44% of PC owners and 43% of tablet owners doing so.
Even the least popular Social TV activity, reading or posting on related social media pages, still has about one-third or more of all device owners participating: smartphone owners (42%), PC owners (33%) and tablet owners (31%).
