Traditional TV Viewing By Generation, Q1 2011 – Q2 2012 [TABLE]

Table - Traditional TV Viewing By Generation

There’s a strong perception that with the rise of social media, mobile device usage, and other such digital trends, youth have put TV on mute. According to the latest cross-platform report from Nielsen, young people are indeed watching less TV, but it’s not a seismic shift, yet. The 18-24 group, for instance, watched a weekly average of 22 hours and 32 minutes of traditional TV in Q2, about 1 hour and 45 minutes less than they did in Q2 2011. That’s about 15 minutes less a day. The difference in monthly viewing time for this group between Q1 2012 and Q1 2011? About 1 and a half hours, or 13 minutes a day.

It’s interesting to note, though, that all ages are watching a bit less TV this year than last. The 65+ segment (which spends the most time watching TV), spent almost an hour less in Q2, and more than an hour less in Q1. The 50-64 set had only a marginal difference in weekly viewing in Q2, but watched about 1 and a half hours less in Q1. So there doesn’t appear to be a strong generational divide at play. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.