NEW YORK ? Survey results presented at the Yahoo Connect Forum prove that consumers are multitasking while watching television programs, with 80 percent engaging with their mobile device while watching TV.

The ?Mobile Multitasking? presentation highlighted that commercial time on TV is mobile primetime.  Twenty-five percent of consumers frequently look up information on a TV ad during commercial break.

?When TV was first born it was a very focused activity and you did not do anything more than that,? said Jeremy Lockhorn, vice president of emerging media at Razorfish, New York.

?And then it evolved into this multitasking behavior,? he said. ?Nothing new, it is just becoming more digital.

?TV is in a constant state of change, as people are going digital with their multitasking.?

According to Edwin Wong, director of market research at Yahoo, Sunnyvale, CA, smartphones and tablets lend themselves to this multitasking behavior.

?The mobile device is enabling us physically and mentally,? Mr. Wong said. ?Consumers find it absolutely vital to get instant information regarding what is around them.?

Let the numbers speak
The study shows that 46 percent of men check sports content at least a few times a week on their mobile device and 24 percent fight occasionally with their significant others for checking sports content on their phones.

With 122 million mobile Internet users, 80 percent of respondents are mobile-multitasking while watching TV. That means there are 98 million mobile TV multitaskers.

Sixty-six percent of respondents use their laptop everyday to multitask when watching TV.  Forty-six percent use their tablet and 49 percent use their Web-enabled mobile phone.

These mutitaskers are engaging in some sort of communication (94 percent) and 60 percent are engaged with some kind of content.

Connection and content are the main drivers of multitasking. Texting, talking, email and social networking are the types of connections made.

Fifty-two percent of respondents said they text during commercial breaks. Forty-five percent talk, 42 percent email, 38 percent engage in social networking and 28 percent IM.

During commercials 34 percent of viewers frequently engage with content not related to what they are watching. Twenty-six percent visit a Web site related to a commercial, 25 percent use a search engine to look up information related to a commercial and 25 percent view content related to the program they are watching.

During Super Bowl 2011, people used their mobile devices during half time and while commercials were on.

?Integrate mobile ads into your TV media buys to engage users on both screens,? Mr. Lockhorn said. ?Marketers need to make sure additional information from a TV ad is easily accessible via the mobile site.?

Final Take
During a PepsiCo presentation at the Yahoo Connect Forum, one of the brand's execs gave an example of integrating mobile into a TV spot. Here is the spot, with the mobile call to action at the end.

Mr. Lockhorn and Mr. Wong