• by Wayne Friedman , November 28, 2011

All students, college and high school, still do most of their TV watching in conventional ways on a TV screen -- but just barely.

A new study from New York-based Youth Pulse (Ypulse), the youth marketing research/information company, says college and high-school students view TV shows on traditional TV 53% of the time. Just looking at college students alone, this number drops to 46%.

An analysis from the company suggests that college students with more of an out-of-home busy schedule than high-schoolers can't always rely on accessing traditional TV. There is also an issue of finance.

Of those college students that have a TV set, 11% have no service. They probably use it for streaming, gaming or watching DVDs. If they do have some subscription TV service, it is probably a basic, low-cost channel service.

The survey says 34% pay at least part of the bill themselves. Thirty-eight percent say their parents pay the monthly bill for their TV service, while 26% say it comes as part of the package with their dorm room or apartment.

Few students are unfamiliar with nontraditional, digital online viewing.

For example, only 12% of high schoolers say they have never watched a TV show online. According to Ypulse, only 28% say they can’t live without TV, compared to 83% who say they can’t imagine life without music.

The study came from 1,647 interviews between July 29 and August 17, 2011 and 1,499 interviews between Sept. 29 and Oct. 26, 2011.