This report reviews our final 2020 numbers and new 2021 forecast for US time spent with media, highlighting pre- and post-pandemic estimates and expectations. Special attention is paid to TV, connected TV, OTT, digital audio, and social media.

The majority of premium OTT viewing is on CTV devices like Roku or smart TVs that connect directly to the internet.

However, all digital video viewing on “other connected devices” takes place on CTV devices, meaning that our “other connected devices video” figures indicate time spent consuming digital video on CTV devices. So, for the purposes of this section, we will refer to “other connected devices” as CTV.

As such, our CTV and smart TV user numbers saw strong growth that will carry over into our longer-term forecast. The story for smart TV users will be largely similar. The jump in user numbers last year—a 2.8 million increase on our pre-pandemic estimate to 26.5 million—will continue through 2024.

This report summarizes our forecasts for nine countries—the US, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, China, India, Japan, and South Korea—and offers comparative analyses of the major time spent numbers for each.

The pandemic accelerated the increase in time spent with mobile activities in the US. Most of these gains will stick as people return to a more normal life in 2021.

Digital video time spent: Includes all video content viewed on desktop/laptop computers, mobile devices, and connected TVs, such as video streamed through over-the-top services. Excludes video streamed through social networks.

Digital video time spent: Includes all video content viewed on desktop/laptop computers, mobile devices, and connected TVs, such as video streamed through over-the-top services. Excludes video streamed through social networks.

Among subscribers, time spent will be much higher (1:42 per day). Time Spent with Digital Video. Digital video—which encompasses any online video watched on a computer or a smartphone and essentially anything viewed via a game console, smart TV, or OTT service—is rapidly replacing traditional TV among younger generations. We anticipated 1:48 per day would go to digital video this year per US adult.

Smart TV ownership also climbed 3 percentage points to 46.2% of internet users this year. Yet the US does lag several other developed nations by this measure. In the UK, for example, 49.6% of respondents said they owned a smart TV in H1 2020; in Spain and Germany, those shares were 50.1% and 50.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, penetration of some key devices declined in the US between H1 2019 and H1 2020.

Smart TVs are well established in most countries with robust, reliable communications networks. More than four in 10 internet users polled in North America, Latin America, and Western Europe said they owned a smart TV in H1 2020, though France was below that threshold.

Daily engagement with social media added up to 1:36, essentially identical to time spent with social in 2019. But penetration of social networking increased 2.9 percentage points, to 84.6%. Among newer digital devices, smart TVs were the clear winner in terms of popularity. Half (49.9%) of respondents owned a smart TV in H1 2020.

However, average time spent each day with live radio, at 46 minutes, had fallen by 7 minutes since H1 2019. Few internet users own advanced digital devices, though affordability is likely an issue for many. Smart TV ownership rose by nearly 5 percentage points to an estimated 36.4% of internet users in H1 2020 but still correlated directly with income.

Interestingly, mobile was the only category in which the time spent figure increased from last year, according to GlobalWebIndex. Internet users in the UK spent an average 2 hours, 29 minutes (2:29) daily engaged with mobile in H1 2020. Yet PCs and tablets still claimed more than an hour more at 3:33. Smart TVs are still growing in popularity.

Smart TVs have a significant presence in Turkey, though penetration fell from 44.6% to 43.4% year over year (YoY). The devices were more popular among females and older adults, but respondents in affluent homes registered the highest penetration at 56.5%. Note that last year, more than 65% of internet users in that cohort owned a smart TV. Traditional media still command large audiences.

Time spent with PCs and tablets was a full hour less at 3:16. In fact, PC and tablet time had decreased from H1 2019, while mobile time rose. Smart TV penetration also declined marginally to 37.3% in H1 2020. As in Turkey, there was a notable drop in ownership of smart TVs among internet users living in affluent households.

In H1 2019, average time spent with PCs and tablets was almost 30 minutes more than mobile. In 2020, PCs and tablets still claimed more time, but the gap had narrowed to 10 minutes. Mobile time totaled 3 hours, 44 minutes (3:44), while PC time stood at 3:54. Smart TV ownership in Taiwan dropped by 3.5 percentage points between H1 2019 and H1 2020, to 22.7%.