The Rise Of The Two-Screen TV Audience

Startup Jacked.com is building a business around people who use a PC, laptop, or cell phone at the same time that they're watching TV. These so-called "two screeners" may represent the rising class among TV viewers.Jacked refers to it as the "two-screen phenomenon" and says that more than half of all TV viewers sometimes do it. The supporting data:

70% of people younger than 34 watch TV while being online, according to Park Associates. 39.5% of adults regularly watch TV while going online, according to BIGresearch. 35% of U.S. college students watch TV while using a computer, according to Burst Media. 40% of TiVo subscribers use a PC or mobile device while watching TV, according to TiVo. Of course, not all of these people (myself among them) are tuned in to the same subject in both places, but some are. Jacked, which secured $6.5 million in venture funding earlier this year, serves this audience by delivering Web content that coincides with TV programming. Its most recent deal is with NBCSports.com to provide a dashboard of widgets during NFL Sunday Night Football games. With one eye on the TV, fans can get real-time statistics, player profiles, and chat with each other at nbcsports.com/playaction. Jacked already provides a similar service for Notre Dame football games aired by NBC, as well as for NBA, NFL, and NCAA football games on Jacked.com. The company indicates it will expand into NCAA basketball and NHL games in the "coming months." Jacked says two-screeners are more engaged and have a higher level of recall when it comes to advertising. Either that, or they're couch potatoes with short attention spans.