US Internet Use Has Doubled in Past Five Years

The average US consumer spends as much time online as he or she does watching traditional broadcast/cable television, according to a new report by independent research company, Forrester Research Inc.

The report, titled, “Understanding The Changing Needs Of The US Online Consumer, 2010” found that hours spent on various Internet activities has jumped 121 percent since 2005. But this doesn’t mean they’re watching less television -- the amount of time spent watching TV has remained constant. Instead, the wide variety of information and programming on the Internet has managed to attract an increasing audience in every age group.

“The younger generation always knew it, but the baby boomers are finally discovering an additional entertainment venue online,” said Mark Crist, CEO of Mile 326 Productions, a creator of live, streaming video content. “Since our target audience skews heavily to the 45 to 54 age group, this is nothing but good news for us.”

Crist, who previously founded and headed up the Totally LIVE Trivia live game shows on America Online, famously predicted in 1995 that online offerings would slowly overtake traditional means of entertainment distribution. That day appears to have come.

“The big factor here is production quality finally reaching audience-acceptable standards. That, combined with the wide availability of broadband has made the difference,” continued Crist. “Recently Netflix replaced The New York Times on the S&P 500. To me, that says the Internet as an entertainment distribution method is here to stay.”

The report is based on the findings on Forrester's survey of more than 30,000 consumers, and can be found in its entirety by clicking here.