Pandemic leaves mark on media habits

The coronavirus pandemic has left its mark on people’s media habits, says a report from eMarketer.

Around a third of U.S. adults’ daily time spent with media will be on mobile in 2021, says the report.

Mobile will account for around a third (33.2%) of time spent with any form of media in 2021. By the end of 2023, that share will climb to 35%, says eMarketer.

Before the pandemic, eMarketer “expected growth in mobile time spent to slow and level off within a few years. Instead, average time spent on smartphones, tablets, and feature phones in 2020 increased by just over half an hour per day to reach 4 hours, 16 minutes (4:16), about 28 minutes more than we had predicted back in November 2019,” says eMarketer.

2020’s 13.8% growth was mobile’s fastest yearly growth since 2014. Growth will slow to 2% or 3% year over year through the end of eMarketer’s forecast in 2023. In 2023, the average US adult will spend 4:35 per day on mobile devices.

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