Industry

According to a new research from Omdia shows that media multitasking is no longer limited to younger viewers. Increasingly, adults over 45 are watching video clips on their smartphones while simultaneously watching television, signalling a major shift in audience behaviour and attention patterns across screens.
Based on Omdia’s latest consumer research, 52% of US viewers aged 45–54 reported watching video clips on their phones while watching TV in November 2025, a significant increase from 39% recorded in November 2022.
The trend is also accelerating among even older demographics. Among viewers aged 55–64, the proportion engaging in mobile video while watching television rose to 35%, compared with 20% three years earlier.

The findings illustrate how the second-screen phenomenon, once strongly associated with Gen Z and younger millennials, has now spread rapidly across older audience groups.
Speaking at the Connected TV World Summit 2026 in London, Maria Rua Aguete, Senior Research Director at Omdia, highlighted the scale of the behavioural shift.“Media multitasking is no longer something that happens only among under-34s,” she said. “Today, more than half of viewers aged 45–54 are watching videos on their phones while watching TV. This represents a fundamental change in how audiences consume content.”
While younger viewers remain the most consistent multitaskers, their habits have largely stabilised. Among 18–24-year-olds, the share increased only marginally from 61% in 2022 to 63% in 2025, while the 25–34 demographic grew from 60% to 61% during the same period.

By contrast, the most significant growth is occurring among older viewers, who are rapidly adopting second-screen behaviours. “The biggest change is not among Gen Z – it’s among viewers aged 45 and over,” - Rua Aguete added - “Multitasking has entered the mainstream. Audiences increasingly divide their attention across multiple screens, reflecting both shorter attention spans and the constant pull of mobile platforms.”

For streamers, broadcasters and advertisers, this shift has important implications for content strategies and audience engagement.
According to Rua Aguete, the key challenge for the industry is the fragmentation of attention: “Winning audiences today requires content ecosystems that extend beyond the TV screen and into mobile environments, where viewers are simultaneously consuming video, social media and short-form content,” she said. “The platforms that will succeed are those that design programming, marketing and engagement strategies with mobile behaviour in mind. Television is no longer a single-screen experience.”