• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, September 12, 2012

TV and movie viewing on tablets by older Americans is quickly rising, according to a new study. The number of tablet owners 55 and older who watch TV and movies weekly on tablets increased from 11 percent last year to 19 percent in 2012, while the number of tablet owners in the 45 to 54 age range who watch weekly rose from 15% to 24%, said strategy consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Company, based on an online survey conducted in partnership with Research Now.

“The implications for marketers and the future of advertising are profound: video advertising on tablets can be more timely (inserted at time of viewing), more targeted, and more interactive than has yet been possible with TV advertising,” said Jonathan Hurd, author of the study.

What’s particularly interesting about tablet viewing habits is that they don’t seem to be cannibalizing other media. Research firm TDG found that among those in the key 18 to 49 demo who use tablets to watch online TV, 39% said their tablet viewing has led to a rise in their regular TV viewing, while another 46% said they have experienced no change, and only 15% reported a drop in regular TV viewing. Among tablet owners 50 and older, the impact of tablet viewing on regular TV viewing is virtually negligible, TDG found.

When consumers watch TV shows and other video programming online, they are also interacting with the ads more. Digital advertising company MediaMind reports that the click-through rate for online video ads (IAB standard video ads) averages 2.84%, which is 27 times higher than that of standard banner ads, and nearly 12 times higher than rich media ads, according to a MediaMind study of more than 3 billion ad impressions in the first six months of 2012.