January 25, 2023
Facebook Is Serious TV Rival
- by Wayne Friedman , October 25, 2011
Daytime is Facebook time, not TV time, for most media consumers.
Facebook is closing in on being a mass medium -- just like TV, according to
a study by Frank N. Magid Associates Generational Strategies. More consumers use Facebook during workday hours -- 9 p.m. to 5 p.m. --than watch TV.
The survey says only baby boomers are
the exception -- 35% report they are watching TV, versus 26% who say they are using Facebook.
Thirty-two percent of Gen Xers -- those 35-46 -- use Facebook during daytime. compared to
28% who watch television. Those 18-34 are using Facebook 44% compared to 32% for television. Teen millennials use Facebook 30% versus 24% for TV. Younger groups 8-14, which the study calls "iGens,"
are the only younger viewers to give TV parity compared to Facebook -- at 16% each.
Things are different in prime time, where TV still dominates. Looking at 18-34 viewers/consumers, for
example, 49% are using Facebook versus 24% who watch TV between 8 p.m. and 11
p.m. Even those hours after-work and before prime hours give the advantage to TV for these younger viewers/consumers: 43% versus 39%.
Baby boomers 47 to 65 are the biggest users of TV in
prime time, with a 70% number. Those 8-14 are using TV at 39%. During prime time, the greatest usage for Facebook comes from teens 15-17, at 39%. The lowest usage is among the older crowd, 47 to 65
years, at 21%.
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This was a very good piece comparing the strengths of both mediums at reaching varying demos. I always enjoy reading your pieces.
Just like to point out, however, that in the reference to the dominance of prime time television for 18-34 year olds compared to Facebook in the same time period the percentages are flipped. Didn't you mean 24% are using Facebook compared to 49% watching television?