Consumers are increasingly watching television using multiple screens, per a new study from Nielsen Co., which says that 40 percent of U.S. tablet and smartphone owners are using their mobile devices while watching TV.

Additionally, the study found that consumers are interacting with advertising while watching TV. The study also looked at how consumers are spending time on their mobile devices.

?Nielsen?s quarterly connected device study continues to educate our consumers about the dynamic connected device market, which includes tablets, smartphones, ereaders, netbooks and portable media players,? said Monica Bannan, vice president of product leadership of mobile media at Nielsen, New York.

?We see penetration continue to increase for most devices, especially for smartphones and tablets with new tablet manufacturers and models entering the scene and being considered in the purchase process,? she said.

?Simultaneous usage as well as situational usage varies by device and demographic whereas content type also drives engagement differences.?

Split time
The Nielsen study found that 14 percent of ereader owners use their devices while watching TV on a daily basis.

The study looked at the watching patterns of three groups ? tablet, smartphone and ereader owners.

Twenty-eight percent of tablet owners said they used their devices several times a week while watching TV, and 11 percent said they used their tablets a few times a month.

Twenty-four percent of smartphone owners surveyed said they used their mobile phones several times a week while watching TV.

Of the total smartphone owners surveyed, 10 percent said they never used their devices while watching TV.

The findings from smartphone and tablet owners vary drastically from the behaviors of ereader owners surveyed.

45 percent of ereader owners in the study said they never use their devices while watching TV.

When asked how often they use their devices while watching TV, 41 percent of ereader owners said several times a week, several times a month or never.

Multiscreen habits
The study also looked at how consumers were spending time on their smartphones and tablets while watching TV.

The No. 1 activity is email with 60 percent of tablet and smartphone owners polled saying they checked their email during a program.

Similarly, 59 percent of smartphone and tablet owners surveyed said they checked their email during a commercial break.

During a program, 46 percent of smartphone and tablet owners browsed the Web for unrelated content to the TV show they were watching.

Forty-two percent of smartphone and tablet owners visited a social media site during a program.

For marketers, the data also reveals some interesting data to reach consumers.

Nineteen percent of tablet and smartphone users looked up product information for an ad.

Thirteen percent of smartphone and tablet owners used their devices to research coupons and deals they spotted while watching TV.

Additionally, 29 percent of smartphone and tablet users looked up information related to related content to the TV show they were watching on their devices.

?Nielsen shows that advertising recall and response rates vary by device and by demographic, which is important for digital marketers who are attempting to reach their target audiences on their connected device,? Ms. Bannan said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York