Adam Venezia said he spends most of his time in front of the television with his computer in his lap and his cell phone nearby. ‘I spend a lot of time on Hulu[.com], but I’ll have the TV on in the background,’ said Venezia, history and English senior. ‘I’ll switch back and forth.’ Time spent viewing online video content increased 13 percent in December, according to The Nielsen Company. But the increase in online video viewing did not affect traditional television viewing. ‘Rather than Americans replacing TV with the Internet or a mobile device, they are just consuming more – often simultaneously,’ said a Dec. 15 report Nielsen report. ‘Despite the availability of video content on the Internet, TV viewing is up about 20 percent over the last decade, and the average American watches 141 hours of programming each month.’ Lance Porter, mass communication professor, said media consumption today is about the three screens: the television screen, the computer screen and the mobile phone screen. ‘It’s creating more opportunities for people to watch more content,’ Porter said. ‘We have thousands of channels to choose from – millions if you count the Internet, so there’s a lot more content out there, and the content is better because of it.’ Drew Parks, microbiology junior, said if he misses his favorite program on TV, he’ll find it on the Internet. Parks said he does not like missing an episode in a series, and the Internet and DVR are good resources for catching up. Ann Ruble, Cox Communications public affairs manager, said online video viewing contributes to traditional television viewing because consumers can become ‘hooked’ on primetime shows after they see them online for free. ‘The Internet is not pulling consumers away – it’s making our consumers better shoppers for the products,’ Ruble said. ‘As we see more channels and more options to watch those channels, people are more interested.’ Morgan Rainey, English junior, said watching shows online has made her more interested in watching them on television. She said online video viewing will strengthen television viewing and vice versa. Venezia said he has become a dedicated viewer of programs like NBC’s ‘Chuck’ and ABC’s ‘Lost’ because they are available on the Internet. Television consumption continues to increase as the number of television sets per household increases, the number of channels increases and as the popularity of new technology like DVR and TiVo increases, according to the report on the Nielsen Wire. The technology involved with television, the Internet and mobile phones is key to the increase in usage, Porter said. Ruble said Cox’s DVR, On DEMAND and MyPrimeTime have helped consumers become interested in more TV programs. DVR usage increased by 22.5 percent in 2009, according to Nielsen. Ruble said DVR sales are also continuing to increase at Cox. ‘People can build their own library [on DVR],’ Ruble said. ‘DVR’s becoming not a nicety but a necessity.’ Porter said consumers can watch what they want, how they want, when they want and where they want as content becomes more accessible through varied media. ‘We can watch it at work, [and] at the soccer field while the kids play, which is unfortunately something people do,’ he said. ‘There is a downside where people just don’t interact personally the same way they used to because of the availability.’ Erik Williams, apparel design freshman, said people miss opportunities to develop relationships, skills or their education because of the amount of videos they watch and the number of ways they can be watched. ‘[TV and online videos] can consume hours of your life,’ Williams said. Porter said the idea of scheduled viewing will go away because of the Internet and technologies like DVR. He said television viewing may turn into a ‘buffet-style’ type of programming where consumers will pick the shows they want to watch and only pay for those shows. —- Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]