As a Canadian living in the States, I’m always on the lookout for interesting new stats about my motherland (you’d be amazed how rarely Canadian Internet usage is discussed by the U.S. mainstream media!). The latest figures to hit the street come courtesy of “Ipsos Reid”:http://www.ipsos.ca/reid/, which recently conducted a study on Online News and Information Seeking. According to the firm, Canadians are now spending an average of 12.7 hours per week online (up 46% from 8.7 hours in 2002).
Naturally this means some other medium is suffering a decrease in usage (there are only, after all, so many hours in a day). This time, it’s radio that is taking the hit. The typical Web-using adult spends 11 hours per week listening to the radio, down from 16 hours per week in 2002. So far, TV is going strong with 14.3 hours of Canadians’ weekly time, though its usage is also down, with the current difference between TV time and Internet time a mere 1.6 hours per week compared with 4.5 three years ago.
With stats like these to bolster them, the practical move for marketers would be to use television to drive traffic to the Web. Remember the “dot-spot”:http://www.clickz.com/experts/media/media_buy/article.php/1587391, pioneered by Canadian television networks years ago? The integration of URLs and TV spots (not to mention virtually every other medium) is more seamless now than ever, but I wonder if traditional marketers realize that by using TV to drive consumers online they’re actually contributing to the demise of their precious broadcast ads? In the words of Joseph Jaffe, author of the new book “Life After the 30-Second Spot”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471718378/ref%26/104-4237640-1728752#37;3Dnosim/lifeafter30-20/104-8950391-4614353%27/002-1936346-6939244, “The 30-second spot, at least as it exists today, is either dead, dying, or has outlived its usefulness. Take your pick.”