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Consumers Multitasking and Cutting Services

Over 66 million consumers across demographic categories are using the Internet while concurrently watching television, perhaps not fully paying attention to either, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.

Based on In-Stat's recent survey, 33 percent of all male respondents, across age groups, reported that they are sometimes using a personal computer simultaneously while watching TV.

Among some male age groups the behavior was as high as 50 percent. In contrast, about 25 percent of female respondents reported using a PC while watching TV.

"Consumer multitasking represents an important emerging opportunity for the TV industry" says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst.

Local TV stations, TV networks, pay-TV networks, 24-hour news networks, sports leagues, and music channels, can instantly connect to some of their viewers, right now, on both the TV screen and on a notebook or netbook computer screen.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- One-fifth of all respondents reported doing instant messaging while watching TV, with similar responses among females and males.

- U.S. consumers could drop spending on mobile, broadband and pay TV services by nearly $5 billion due to economic turmoil.

- About 15 percent of U.S. respondents intend to cut back spending on Pay-TV, broadband, and mobile services in response to economic pressures.

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