by Wayne Friedman
Source: www.mediapost.com, December 2020
After eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic, daytime TV viewing has become a “second prime time,” according to Nielsen, due to the continuing growth of kids viewing and at-home workers’ TV and internet consumption.
For example, in October, professional and managerial workers increased total TV time by 21% between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m (26 additional minutes per day) versus the same period a year ago. (Nielsen defines total TV time as live, time-shifted, internet-connected device, or game console.)
For an entire typical work week — Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — workers are now consuming TV a total of two hours and 10 minutes more than they were a year ago.
The highest-performing hourly time periods during the day are the noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. hours.
In addition, with more kids doing virtual at-home video schoolwork, this audience has also grown in TV and internet usage.
On a daily basis, in October, TV usage was up 40% to 80% for kids 6-11 and 12-17 during the hourly periods of 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. On a weekly basis, TV usage grew 50 minutes for kids 2-5; three hours 25 minutes for kids 6-11; and two hours among kids 12-17.
And not surprisingly, there is much higher daytime internet-connected usage for kids. For example, internet-connected device use rose anywhere from 100% to 160% higher for kids 6-11 and kids 12-17 in Monday to Friday hourly time periods, 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Likewise, professionals/managers have witnessed higher daytime internet-connected device usage — up 40% to 60% from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m on a typical workday.
