Youngsters glued to their screens

Malaysia - Young Malaysians, reportedly the biggest media junkies in Asia Pacific, are hooked to the TV and the internet, revealed in Synovate's Young Asians study.

Advertisers should take note that most hours are still spent watching TV but the internet grabs the most attention among 15 to 24 year olds, and mobile phones are considered the necessary ‘third screen'.

The results show young Malaysians (8 to 24 years old) are exposed to the media more than half a day (12.9 hours), followed by Thailand (12.8) in second place, and Hong Kong (12.2). Of these number of hours, Malaysians spend 4.5 hours watching TV and 3.6 hours on the internet.

15 to 24 year old Malaysian respondents said they paid the most attention to the internet. 31% say they pay 100% attention to the internet when they are online and another 38% give it 75% of their attention. For TV, however, 18% say they give it their full attention, and 31% give 75% attention.

The survey also shows that the highest amount of internet time is spent on instant messaging (3.8 hours) and other internet activities (3.3 hours) compared to 1.6 hours spent each on emailing and online community activities (includes blogging and online social network sites).

"When you're fighting for a young person's attention, it might be best if your message was on a screen. They are far more likely to notice it," Ben Llewellyn, research director of Synovate Malaysia, said.

"But when it comes to how people feel about media, it's the internet and mobile phones that are most often rated an absolute necessity. Indeed, the mobile phone is fast making inroads as the 'third screen' in people's lives," he said. 64% of young Malaysians surveyed own a mobile phone.

The Young Asians study was sponsored by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, MTV, SingTel, Star TV and Yahoo.