Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Thanks to multitasking (and our method of accounting for it, explained in a moment), US adults’ average daily time spent with major media will slightly exceed 12 hours this year, according to eMarketer’s latest report, “US Time Spent with Media: eMarketer’s Updated Estimates and Forecast for 2014-2019” (available only to eMarketer PRO subscribers).

But while our reports early in the decade told a story of robust gains—with increases in digital usage more than compensating for declines in time spent with non-digital media—growth has been petering out.

Of course, media multitasking is what has made so much usage possible. Like a Coney Island contestant stuffing hot dogs into his mouth with both hands, people are often using multiple media at the same time....