In 2008, 14% of all television-watching will happen online, according to a study from Convergence Consulting Group. It would be reassuring to also hear that approximately 14% of television-watching will take place outside of a home environment where there is no TV, but the Convergence report did not address where the Internet TV watching will occur, such as at home, at work, in a coffee shop, etc.
Instead, it remains possible that many people will watch a good chunk of TV sitting hunched over a laptop on a couch at home, while a perfectly good spot for a beautiful HDTV languishes, empty, six feet away.
By 2010, according to the report, 23% of full-episode broadcast TV and cable programming will be viewed online.
The report, titled "The Battle for the North American Couch Potato,"
notes that in 2007, ABC and NBC were the networks most often watched
online, while Viacom is the most popular cable content to watch
online. Maybe this is what happens if you don't own a DVR. Giving these
online-watchers the benefit of doubt, perhaps they do own HDTVs, but no
DVR, so in order to actually see top programming that they weren't home
to watch, they turn, desperately, to the Web. That's the only excuse
that comes to mind for their tragic behavior. —Rachel Rosmarin
