Television vs. Internet

In one corner of the arena, we have the traditional media power, Television.  In the other corner of the arena, we have the newcomer, Internet.  Who is going to be the winner for the hearts and minds of the people?  At the present, the landscape for this battle is asymmetrical.  While most households have access to television, only a minority of Latin Americans have access to the Internet.

We now cite some survey data from the TGI.net Mexico survey.  Within this sample of 11,040 persons between the ages of 12 and 64 years old, 11% of them indicated that they had used the Internet by some means within the last 90 days.  Within these Internet users, the following statement was shown to them: "I prefer to navigate the Internet than watch television."  25% of them agreed completely with this statement, while 75% choose the other options: "somewhat agree", "neither agree nor disagree", "somewhat disagree" and "completely disagree."

While the 25% figure certainly does not indicate a majority, what is more interesting is the type of person who indicated that preference.  In the following table, we show the age/sex compositions of the survey population, the Internet users and those Internet users who prefer the Internet over television.  As a whole, the Internet users are younger than the general population.  In addition, they are more likely to be male than female.  But what is surprising is the fact that the 25% of Internet users who prefer the Internet over television are more overrepresented by younger females (32% female 12-24 in the group, versus 17% in the population and 18% among all Internet users).

Age/Sex group % in population 
12 -64 years old		 % among Internet users % among Internet users who prefer Internet over television
Male 12-19
Male 20-24
Male 25-34
Male 35-44
Male 45-54
Male 55-64

Female 12-19
Female 20-24
Female 25-34
Female 35-44
Female 45-54
Female 55-64		 13%
  7%
11%
  9%
  6%
  4%

10%
  7%
13%
11%
  7%
  4%		 26%
11%
14%
  9%
  6%
  2%

11%
  7%
  7%
  5%
  2%
  1%		 25%
10%
  8%
  6%
  2%
  0%

20%
12%
  7%
  9%
  1%
  0%

(source: TGI Mexico)

How does that preference become translated into actual usage time?  We will show what happens during the prime time of television viewing (Monday-Friday 8pm-10pm).  This table shows a definitely decrease in television viewing as we move across the columns.  The interpretation of these data should be cautioned by the possibility that the Internet users may be light users of television even before the Internet ever came around.

Usually watch television % in population 
12 -64 years old		 % among Internet users % among Internet users who prefer Internet over television
     20:00 - 20:30
     20:30 - 21:00
     21:00 - 21:30
     21:30 - 22:00
TOTAL		 58%
60%
62%
61%
70%		 49%
51%
59%
58%
67%		 45%
46%
53%
52%
59%

(source: TGI Mexico)

In a previous note, we discussed the impact of the Internet on television viewing time.  In that case, we compared the number of claimed television viewing hours against the number of claimed Internet usage hours, and we found no apparent relationship.  But we pointed out that it is possible that people might be using television and the Internet simultaneously, such that there is apparently no decrease in the number of television viewing hours.  In this note, we have gone beyond a quantitative comparison to ask the Internet users a preference question between television and the Internet.  While the Internet has not surpassed television yet, the key indicator is that the highest preference for the Internet comes from younger people.  For example, we now have a generation of young women growing up with the Internet, instead of watching telenovelas.

This younger generation will be brought up in an Internet-enriched environment, and they will carry their habits and attitudes in the future years.  While the penetration of the Internet is still low, we must remember that this medium has much more network externalities than broadcast media (that is to say, the utility of the Internet increases for all users when more people use it due to the nature of technologies such as electronic mail, personal websites, bulletin boards, chat rooms, electronic commerce, corporate communication, etc).  So one can optimistically feel that time is on the side of the Internet.

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(posted by Roland Soong, 1/20/2001)

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