Time spent with media to slump in US and Canada, but digital formats will grow

The trend: Consumers in the US and Canada are expected to decrease their total time spent consuming media this year and in subsequent years as habits calm after the pandemic spike, but digital formats will continue to make inroads.

• In the US, apps that mesh well with connected TVs (CTVs), including sub-OTT services, YouTube and digital audio, will expand their time spent relatively more quickly than others in 2022.
• In Canada, digital video, audio, and social media are on the upswing. Time spent with digital video, for example, has risen 36.8% from five years ago.
• By 2024, digital will account for 55.3% of total media time in Canada, while it will command a 64.9% share of US daily media consumption time.

Shared traits: Traditional media continues to lose share, with TV suffering the most from a loss in daily viewership. In Canada, TV will lose 3.7% average daily viewership time this year, radio will shrink 1.8%, and print’s decline will be 2.8%. In the US, time spent with radio continues to fall marginally each year as does time with print, and TV shows no signs of curbing its losses.

Point of differentiation: Time spent with social networks offers a contrast. Canada trails significantly in social media time: Daily time spent in the US is 75 minutes among the total population, versus 48 minutes in Canada.

Go further: For more information on our media consumption forecasts and implications for marketers, read our Time Spent with Media reports for the US and Canada.