Media stacking: blurring the line between Internet and TV

thenextweb.com reports that 75% of the UK use a laptop, smartphone or tablet while watching TV. These findings come from The 2011 Social TV Trends Reports, based on a survey of 2 025 UK online consumers.

96% of the questioned 18-24 year-olds said that they stack multiple media, and – more surprisingly – 63% of respondents aged 55+ admitted to doing the same.

With these results in mind, it’s probably only a matter of time before marketers (and others dealing with communication) begin to fully utilize the potential of this media stacking behavior. For example, imagine a TV-ad that’s both an ad and an interactive quiz show, accessed via the internet; instead of muting the TV during the commercial breaks, viewers might actually pay more attention to the screen when such an ad airs, and – after they win or lose – they discuss the outcome online, providing the advertiser with additional exposure and customer engagement.

There may be a paradigm shift in TV-/online marketing awaiting us, in a not too distant future…