More Proof TV is No Longer a Unilateral Experience

Television content providers and the mobile media industry can stop bickering over either/or options for users. It’s time to connect the dots. A new survey has proven television watching is not a solitary activity anymore — almost 90 percent tablet and smartphone owners use their smart devices while watching television programs.

Nielsen found 88 percent of tablet owners and 86 percent of smartphone owners used their smart devices at least once while watching TV over the prior 30 days. Forty-five percent of tablet users and 41 percent smartphone owners said they do so at least once every day, and 25 percent said the frequency was as high as several times a day.

The most important activity on the device was checking email. However, looking up content related to the program or products being advertised around it was a close second, proving companies like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and manufacturers of Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android-run products have reason to work together with TV content providers like Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to create a more rounded viewing experience.

Experts have already been talking about content providers using the better video and display capabilities of the new tablets to integrate content. Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show, for instance, has live app-only content available for tablet users, as well as conversation in real time that corresponds to the show’s airing on TBS (NYSE:TWX).

In the U.K., 80 percent of those surveyed said they used tablets and 78 percent used smartphones while watching TV in the last month.