A LARGE MAJORITY OF today’s college students still prefer to watch TV on TV, says new research released Monday by CTAM.
Seventy percent of those 17-23 year olds who are said to be the most connected generation ever, with MP3 players, cell phones and laptops all tucked in their backpacks, prefer watching television on a traditional set says The Hookup: Media Use in the College Environment.
In an average week, college students report watching 16.6 hours of programming.
However, the computer plays an important role in college students’ viewing habits, too, with 21% of their video viewing on a computer. This includes 10% who use their computers to view television programs online and 11% who report watching video clips on sites such as YouTube and MySpace.
The research also says that U.S. college students are also choosing cable services over satellite and telco providers, so far. Seventy-nine percent of college students living off campus, who have a choice in their service provider, subscribe to cable. Seven percent of those living off campus subscribe to satellite and 2% to video services from their telephone company. Cable is also the preferred provider for Internet services – with 65% of students living off campus reporting that they have cable high-speed Internet and 26% report subscribing to DSL high-speed Internet.
“College students are trend setters — a bellwether on technology and media consumption. Even as these viewers are adopting the latest, innovative products, they continue to hold on to the tried and true services offered by cable,” said Char Beales, president and CEO of CTAM, in the press release.
Furthermore, 89% of college students report they have shared video content, most often on their computers. Eighty-four percent report having sent content to others on their computers and 88% report that they’ve received content.
Other commonly used methods of sharing content are via cell phone (74% report that they have sent content, and 76% have received content) and MP3 players/portable media devices (75% have sent and 76% have received content).
The Hookup: Media Use in the College Environment, investigates how and why college students use different platforms – linear TV, broadband video, laptops, cell phones, iPods, and DVRs – in the college environment and the effect that each has on their media consumption. The report was prepared for the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) by the Market Research Department (MRD).
