Women still watch more TV than men, but the gap is closing
Women may watch more TV but men spend more than twice as much time gaming, according to a new Nielsen report on US viewing habits.
Men don't squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom, think the floor is where clothes belong and can't remember anniversaries, but they could say in their defense that at least they don't spend all day sitting in front of the television and could produce the statistical research to prove it.
Until now that is. Since the advent of the soap opera, television has been largely described and referred to as a women's medium by sociologists and media professors alike -- even if men seem to think of the remote control as their own private property -- but the latest research from Nielsen published Friday shows that thanks to games consoles, the gap is closing fast.
US women aged between 18 and 34 watch an average of four hours and 11 minutes of TV a day, almost an hour more than men (3 hours 34 minutes), yet when the use of games consoles with internet connectivity, such as the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3, are factored into the equation, men's time in front of the TV jumps to 4 hours and 22 minutes, 11 minutes more than women. Nielsen claims the average US man spends 48 minutes a day on a games console.
However, men haven't lost their last bargaining chip yet. The same research reveals that women also spend 22 minutes a day using a console so, when all of the figures are added together, women still spend more time in front of the television than men, but only just.
