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Mobile is the new primetime. Time spent on mobile eclipses TV

mobile passes television

Who could have imagined even a decade ago that consuming media on a phone-like computer device we carried in our pockets or a purse would be more popular than watching television?

Well it’s happened. Adweek’s Social Times reported yesterday that now that mobile viewing has officially surpassed TV, it has become the new primetime.

In fact, according to Flurry Analytics, time spent on mobile devices grew 9.3 percent in 2014. While time spent on TV has remained flat. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American consumer is allotting almost 3 hours per day to their mobile devices.

Gone are the days of 60-minute TV shows. Consumers today have become very selective – they only want to nosh on the most interesting bite sized subject matter when and where they want. To no surprise, mobile has become the ideal forum for consuming content. 

Look at the trend from just three years ago. It’s shocking.

Time spent mobile devices vs television

No question there is an overlap in the time on television and mobile. Just look at you and your family watching evening television or a sporting event on TV. You’re viewing both.

But per Flurry, a mobile analytics and advertising company, that while it’s hard to believe that the smart device industry, which didn’t exist six and half years ago, can take out an industry entrenched in every American household since the middle of the last century, it’s happened.

Smart devices are practical, and are glued to consumers 24/7/365. Those factors, combined with the content explosion on these devices through millions of apps, helped mobile snatch the big prize from television. As of September 2014, it is a new world in the American living room.

What’s all of this have to day with law firms and other professional services firms? Plenty.

  1. Recognize that it’s a mobile first world. Get over your anecdotal beliefs. Don’t let your legacy partners tell you otherwise.
  2. Designing and distributing for desktops comes second to designing for mobile. You and your content need to go where your viewers are — and they are on mobile.
  3. Leverage content that’s befitting mobile. Short blog pieces — or blog like articles.
  4. Get the content shared on social networks through your personal use of social networks. Viewers are as apt to use social networks on mobile as anything.

Imagine me telling Dad when I was leaning against his Lazy Boy while watching All In The Family on a television built into a piece of furniture that viewing television would be replaced by watching a telephone that was not connected to the wall. Simply amazing.

Image courtesy of Flickr by MidCentArc

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