TV, smartphones go hand in hand

A mother and her children watch TV. / Yonhap

Koreans are watching more TV while playing games on their smartphones.

The findings are based on a survey on TV, PC and mobile use by HS Ad, an advertising affiliate of LG.

The agency surveyed 1,700 people aged 7 to 69 who had all three devices at home.

They were found to watch three hours and six minutes of TV a day, up 14 minutes from last year.

They spent three hours 49 minutes on their phones and 52 minutes on their computers, nine minutes more and two minutes less, respectively, than a year earlier.

People aged in their teens to 30s spent more time on their phones than watching TV, whereas those in their 40s watched more TV.

Among the respondents, 51 percent said they simultaneously watched TV and used their phone, spending 32 minutes engaged with both devices.

"As people increasingly engage simultaneously with their phones and TV, the two media are seen less as rivals, and more as synergy-creating partners," HS Ad was quoted as saying.

"This is evident from the countless comments that are uploaded on portal sites and mentions posted on SNS when dramas and entertainment programs are aired."

The most popular activity people did on their phones while watching TV was mobile games (39.6 percent), followed by messaging (18.3 percent), googling (16.7 percent) and SNS (10.8 percent). Some respondents (9 percent) even viewed other videos while watching TV.

Mobile use surged during TV prime time hours, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

"TV prime time is now becoming prime time for all media," HS Ad was quoted as saying.