That habit by mobile users to use the smartphone or tablet while watching television is already a consolidated fact. This causes a decrease of the attention of the spectators towards the big screen, attracted by the stimuli that offer him the intelligent screens. Faced with this new reality, mobile companies have launched to create applications and websites, in order to take advantage of this behavior.

Business Insider Intelligence has studied this new audience, in order to find out what its real reach is. From its data the following results are shown:

• 85% of smartphone users have used their device as a second screen during the last month.
• 60% showed this behavior pattern weekly.
• 39% recognize that it combines the consumption of television content daily with the use of its smartphone.

Pew’s work also reinforces these conclusions, noting that 80% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 use their mobile phones while watching television. This source also indicates a purchasing power rating, indicating that 60% of Americans with annual incomes of more than $ 50,000 also show this multi-device behavior.

Television advertising loses the battle

There are multiple studies suggesting that the multi screen is increasing the television experience of consumers, as when the interaction between television and social networks favors an increase in the levels of interaction with the programs broadcast. But before the growth of this new trend, television advertising begins to lose the battle.

According to data from a Symphony Advanced Media report, 30 and 40% of the current time spent watching TV occurs simultaneously with the use of a mobile device. However, on average, participants spent a third of the time on television ads watching on their mobile devices completely ignoring advertising.

The IAB assumes that this surprising result can occur because viewers who resort to their devices during commercial intermediaries are less inclined to navigate the programming or get up at those times, thus being less attentive in some way to the marks that appear onscreen. There is a phenomenon of listening instead of watching television.

This data should encourage advertisers to derive part of their budget line to this channel, in order to capture the mobile audience. Advertising investment in the United States exceeded $ 18 billion in the last quarter of last year alone; Reaching an annual volume of more than 74 billion.

Only a small portion of this great pie would already make this medium profitable. On the other hand, the audience that represents this type of mobile device users could also be a niche market where to test commercial actions before launching them to the masses. In any case, the digital channel will serve as a reinforcing stimulus to improve the questioned effectiveness of television as an advertising channel.