Urban TV Consumer Report Reveals Surprising #'s

 LARCHMONT, NY  -- Early results of Horowitz Associates, Inc.'s annual State of Cable and Digital Media – Multicultural Edition 2011 study have just been released and reveal that, at least weekly, almost a third of urban consumers (31%) watch TV content via alternative platforms such as on a computer/laptop, on a mobile device/tablet, or streamed directly from the Internet to the TV through an "OTT" device such as an Apple TV, a Vudu Box, an Xbox, or a Blu-Ray DVD player.

Those who use alternative platforms for TV spend, on average, 15% of their viewing time on a platform other than traditional TV.  This is in addition to time devoted to digital TV platforms such as DVRs and VOD.

Multicultural urban consumers over-index for using alternative platforms for TV compared to their white counterparts, the study reveals.  Almost half of Asian urban consumers (41%) watch TV content on alternative platforms at least weekly, as do 37% of Hispanic and 36% of Black urban consumers, versus 25% of White non-Hispanic urban consumers.  Through a computer/laptop alone, 35% of Asians report at least weekly TV viewing, compared to 22%, 17%, and 15% among Hispanic, Black, and White consumers, respectively.

Computers and OTT platforms aside, penetration of video-enabled mobile devices such as smartphones/iPhones, iPads, and gaming gadgets increased from 35% in 2010 to 46% in 2011.  This, along with the expanded availability of mobile apps providing access to professionally created content from major media companies, is paving the way to an increase in viewership of TV content on mobile platforms:  Self-reported weekly viewership of TV content on mobile devices alone has increased from 4% in 2010 to 10% in 2011.  Incidence of weekly mobile TV viewing is highest among Black and Hispanic urban consumers: 14%, report at least weekly viewing, compared to 7% among White and 5% among Asian urban consumers.

More findings from this research will be revealed at next week's Multicultural Media Forum on Wednesday March 16th at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City which runs from 8am-1pm.  The event features a roster of research, media, and advertising executives who will address strategies for capturing and retaining audiences in multiplatform, multicultural America, and the important role of culturally relevant in-language content in serving the cross-platform needs of these audiences.

The Forum is presented by Horowitz Associates and is produced by the Schramm Marketing Group. Sponsorship sales are handled by HispanicAd.com. Creative support is provided by Ember Media.