According to the second of Zenith’s Media Consumption Forecasts, which surveys changing patterns of media consumption and assesses how the amount of time people allocate to different media will change in the next two years, the predicted increase in mobile internet use will drive a 1.4% increase in overall media consumption this year. 

The growth of internet consumption (desktop, then mobile), has driven a 7.9% increase in the total consumption of all media between 2010 and 2015: from 403 minutes to 435 minutes. This is an average of 1.5% growth per year. 

Growth of internet consumption is expected to slow to 1.2% in 2017, and 0.4% in 2018. Global media consumption is predicted to average 448 minutes a day in 2018. 

The forecast, which covers 71 countries, reveals that 71% of internet consumption is now mobile, with the region most heavily skewed towards mobile internet consumption being Asia Pacific, where 73% of internet consumption is now mobile. This is closely followed by North America, where this figure is 72%. 

“Mobile technology is transforming the way people around the world consume media, and is expanding overall media consumption,” said Jonathan Barnard, Zenith’s head of forecasting.

“It provides traditional media owners the opportunity to reach people and places they’ve never had access to previously, and gives consumers entirely new ways to find and enjoy compelling content.”