Motorola survey finds you're viewing more video in different ways

Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility's fourth annual Media Engagement Barometer said that consumers are watching more video on their smartphones, tablets and laptops and doing that in every room in the house, including the bathroom. Now that's having what you want, where you want it.

And while consumers are recording more, they're watching less of that recorded video. Now consumers are asking for devices that sense what they want and automatically download it for them.

“There are one or two operators testing some new solutions,” said Jonathan Ruff, Moto's senior director of technology product management.

The report, released this week, was conducted by an independent firm hired by Moto to survey about 9,500 consumers in 17 countries, including the United States, last December. The data collected in several areas of video viewing habits likely will be used to help develop smarter set-top boxes for cable operators as well as more advanced mobile devices for consumers.

Recording behaviors in the United States showed that more than a third of weekly TV viewing is recorded content, higher than the global average, yet of that recorded content, 41 percent is never watched.

In fact, 71 percent of U.S. respondents said they would be interested in a service that automatically loaded content to a device that they can enjoy on the move, suggesting an appetite for a more connected experience, the report said.

The study also followed the behavior of consumers as they watched an average of 29.5 hours of TV programming and film content a week, more than four hours than the global average of 25.2 hours.

Here are more statistics:

Ÿ The bedroom is the most popular room to watch broadcast TV in the U.S. home, with 54 percent of respondents choosing to watch TV there, edging out the living room with 49 percent.

Ÿ Those who have tablets said 44 percent use them in the bedroom, 16 percent in kitchen, 12 percent in the dining room and even 10 percent in the bathroom.

Ÿ Those with smartphones said 51 percent use them in the bedroom, 27 percent in kitchen, 20 percent in the dining room and 22 percent in the bathroom.

The data reinforces the trends that Moto executives have been following for a while, Ruff said.

This shows that consumers are watching more content and on more devices, using multiple screens to record that programming, he said.

That's why the global company also is working on prototypes for multiscreen interaction with social networking. Many of those consumers said they'd like to interact with their friends by letting them know what they're watching and then provide the opportunity to comment on it via a social networking site.

The company also will be focusing on new ways for consumers to manage video on their smartphone and tablet, which typically now has less “real estate” viewing space and bandwidth compared to a home TV screen, he said.

ŸFollow Anna Marie Kukec on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter. Write to her at akukec@dailyherald.com.