Smartphone Broadcast Viewing Time Plummets to One-Third of a Year Ago

'June Report on Smartphone and PC Usage Patterns' Released

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The time spent watching broadcast programs using smartphones in June dropped to about one-third compared to a year ago.

According to the Korea Communications Commission's (KCC) "Smartphone and PC Usage Behavior June Report" released on the 21st, the average monthly time South Koreans spent watching broadcast programs on 28 channels via smartphones in June was 49.28 minutes, which is about 101 minutes less than the same month last year (150.28 minutes), falling to less than one-third.

The smartphone broadcast program viewing time was in the 109-minute range in January and February this year but decreased to 85.2 minutes in March, then continued to decline to 61.8 minutes in April and 56.13 minutes in May.

The proportion of unique users (excluding duplicates) who watched broadcast programs at least once a month on smartphones increased from 70.85% in January to 71.34% in February but dropped to 64.21% in March and further fell to 36.57% in June. This is only about half of the 70.08% recorded in the same period last year.

The total smartphone usage time decreased from an average of 8,038 minutes in March to 7,335.21 minutes in June, a 6.1% decrease compared to 7,808.87 minutes in the same month last year. However, the time spent watching short videos, not broadcast programs, on smartphones showed little change.

The average monthly video usage time, including broadcast programs, was 1,559.66 minutes in June, which is only 3.54 minutes (0.2%) less than the same month last year. Meanwhile, the time spent watching broadcast programs on 23 channels via PC increased slightly by 0.38 minutes to 33.44 minutes in June compared to the same month last year.

The KCC surveys smartphone usage behavior with a panel of 2,601 people representing the population of approximately 32.56 million by age and gender. PC usage behavior is surveyed with a panel of 1,002 people. The survey aims to understand the diversified viewing behaviors due to digital convergence and smart technology and to enhance the effectiveness of media diversity policies based on the survey results.