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Study: Americans Watching More Online & Mobile Media Than TV

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDW.COM) - There was a time you couldn't imagine not having a landline telephone in your home. Now it seems those same American homes could soon be shedding their traditional television sets.

According to the research firm eMarketer, 2013 will be the first year we watch more TV shows on computers and smartphones than on television.

Syracuse University's Robert Thompson says using gadgets and not TVs to view media is more than just a trend. "You're only home so many hours a day and that used to be when you watched television," he said. "Now you can watch it when you're supposed to be writing memos and doing your work."

Statistics from the report have people spending more than 5 hours a day online, or with digital media, and only about 4 ½ hours watching an actual TV.

Professor Thompson said he doesn't find the results of the report surprising, since most adults spend their day working on a computer. "When you're sitting at a desk, at your computer and somebody looks at you from across the room you don't look any different if you're catching up on Game of Thrones than you do if you're actually doing the work you're supposed to be doing."

Thompson said the increase in digital media consumption is basically because it's easier for people to use media on tablets, laptops and smartphones when they aren't at home.

But don't go throwing your televisions out the window. Even with the increase, the amount of time spent watching TV this year is only projected to fall by 7 minutes.

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