Viewers Show Interest in TV on Mobile Devices

Beta finds 50% of young adults want to view on tablets and smartphones

By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/26/2012 5:00:00 PM

The TV Everywhere push by cable networks is matched by increased demand by consumers to watch programming on smartphones and tablets.

Interest in viewing television on mobile devices among adults climbed to 31% in 2012 from 22% in 2011, according to a new survey by Beta Research.

Among younger adults, ages 18 to 34, 50% said they were interested in viewing TV on mobile devices, up from 39% a year ago. And among teens ages 12 to 17, 47% said they were interested in using tablets and mobile phones to watch TV, up from 43%.

Beta said that 19% of adults said they actually viewed TV on a smartphone or tablet in the past 30 days.

The survey was conducted in March, with a national sample of 4,900 multichannel subscribers.

Beta also asked about what digital basic and mid-sized networks viewers were interested in watching. Most getting the highest marks were: National Geographic Channel, ID Investigation Discovery, Nat Geo Wild, Cooking Channel and Science.

Among emerging networks, the top scorers were: Fox Movie Channel, CI, Crime & Investigation Network, Weatherscan, Military History and BBC World News