On March 16th, an audience of 300 media and advertising executives will gather at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel for the 11th Annual Multicultural Media Forum presented by leading research firm Horowitz Associates, Inc. and produced by the Schramm Marketing Group. Early results of Horowitz Associates, Inc.’s annual State of Cable and Digital Media – Multicultural Edition 2011 study have just been released and reveal that, at least weekly, almost a third of urban consumers (31%) watch TV content via alternative platforms such as on a computer/laptop, on a mobile device/tablet, or streamed directly from the Internet to the TV through an OTT device such as an Apple TV, a Vudu Box, an Xbox, or a Blu-Ray DVD player. Those who use alternative platforms for TV spend, on average, 15% of their viewing time on a platform other than traditional TV.Multicultural urban consumers over-index for using alternative platforms for TV compared to their white counterparts, the study reveals. Computers and OTT platforms aside, penetration of video-enabled mobile devices such as smartphones/iPhones, iPads, and gaming gadgets increased from 35% in 2010 to 46% in 2011. This, along with the expanded availability of mobile apps providing access to professionally created content from major media companies, is paving the way to an increase in viewership of TV content on mobile platforms: Self-reported weekly viewership of TV content on mobile devices alone has increased from 4% in 2010 to 10% in 2011. More findings from this research will be revealed at this week’s Multicultural Media Forum.More info. at {www.multiculturalmediaforum.com}
