When You Watch, Are You Alone?

So much for those giant-size, wall-mounted televisions.

More and more Americans are watching video content, whether it is TV shows, movies or short video, on their smartphones.

Even if video content were to be viewed on a TV set, rather than a palm-sized player, something interesting is taking shape with respect to solo viewership.

New research from MRI‘s Cord Evolution report shows that Americans watch TV or video in groups a lot more than you may think.

The latest findings from MRI show that Americans watch TV or video in groups 48% of their total viewing time. In addition, 49% of all adults — and 60% in the 18-to-34 age group —report that they are “co-viewing” more often now than they did three years ago.

Further, some 58% of co-viewing time is spent watching with a “significant other,” while children account for 19%; adult family members, 16%; and friends, 9%.

Preferred genres for watching with others change depending on who else is in the room; while Movies come in first or second in all four co-viewing situations, and Comedy TV Shows consistently place in the top three, Sports score highest when friends are the co-viewers.

Top TV/video genres for watching with others

MRI also found that more than half (55%) of solo viewers are men.

Parents, on the other hand, are more likely to be co-viewers; three-quarters (77%) of parental co-viewers have children under the age of 11 in the home, while one-quarter (23%) have children ages 12 to 17.

The new data show that co-viewing is not a platform-driven behavior.

MRI found that, when asked which types of TV services they use most often when co-viewing, Americans were equally likely to say they co-view via traditional TV services (48% — cable, satellite, fiber optic service) and streaming services (52% — Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.). Not surprisingly, younger adults (ages 18-34) are more likely than average to choose streaming as their medium of co-viewing (72%, 137)

“The social nature of TV viewing continues to drive people to this enjoyable shared experience,” said Amy Hunt, VP of TVideo Media Sales at MRI. “A lot has been said recently about the introduction of dynamically inserted ads for shows; but this seems to be predicated on the idea of only one target watching. The increase of co-viewing suggests that more ad options will need to be available, to appeal to the widest possible audience range.”

MRI’s Cord Evolution research is based on 24,000 in-person, in-home interviews in MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer®, asking about cord intentions. Cord Evolution research tracks levels of “cord disruption” (who is cutting, who is increasing) among 10 unique viewing groups, revealing the impact of new digital offerings on traditional cord subscriptions and linear behavior. This research measures not just what and how they are watching, but also the why’s behind their viewing and subscription choices.