KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders with broadband connections spend much more time surfing the net than watching TV, a survey shows.
While many still do not have broadband connections, those who do have high-speed access are spending an average of 22 hours a week online, compared with 14 hours watching TV.
The figures come from a survey commissioned last year by network technology company Cisco.
The Connected Consumers survey found New Zealand broadband users spent an average of 48 hours a week "engaging in media-related activities". On top of the 36 hours spent using the internet and watching TV, they spent an average of 10 hours listening to music and two hours playing games.
Australians consumed slightly less digital media - an average of 46 hours a week - spending the same amount of time online and watching TV as New Zealanders, but spending only eight hours listening to music and three hours playing games.
Italian consumers spent more time online (23 hours), Britain rates the same as New Zealand and Australia, at 22 hours, and consumers in the US and Germany (21 hours), Spain (19 hours) and France (18 hours) all spent less time online than us.
Jay Shutter, managing director of research company Illuminas, which ran the survey, said the figures included time spent online while at work.
The survey highlighted the impact the internet is increasingly having as a source of video entertainment. Sixty-one per cent of New Zealand respondents said they used a website service to watch videos while only 47 per cent downloaded music.
While short clips and music videos from sites such as YouTube were the most popular form of video watched online, 18 per cent of respondents said they had watched or downloaded a full-length movie in the past 30 days.
The key motivation for using the internet as a viewing medium was the ability to "time-shift" and "place-shift", Shutter said. "Most people are recording content or downloading content because they want to see it at a more convenient time, so if they missed an episode of Lost or they missed a rugby game they can certainly then go online and watch it at a later time."
Another strong motivation was people wanted to watch content without advertising "which is not necessarily good for ad agencies and media companies, per se", Shutter said.
"It's going to really require the industry to be more creative in terms of how we put the ads out there."
The survey reinforced Trade Me's strong presence. Asked who they would prefer to provide them with a range of technology services including TV, mobile phone, internet, video and music, Trade Me was the fourth most popular choice behind Vodafone, Telecom and Google.
Cisco's vice-president for Australia and New Zealand, Les Williamson, said the survey's finding validated his company's business approach. which has involved pushing the concept of the "connected consumer".
He said broadband and internet usage in Australia and New Zealand were swinging to that connectivity.
GADGET NATION
Devices New Zealanders own or have in their household:
Mobile phone 99%
Desktop PC 85%
Digital camera 87%
MP3 Player 64%
Laptop / Notebook PC 71%
Game console 55%
External storage device 49%
Home theatre system 39%
Digital video recorder 39%
Flat panel / projector TV 32%
Portable DVD / video player 26%
High-definition TV 23%
Portable gaming 20%
Source: Cisco Connected Consumer survey
