NEW YORK—As expected, people all over the world spent a lot of time at home in 2020, which led to “abnormally high results for time spent with media in nearly every country,” the research firm eMarketer noted in a recent analysis of media usage. “We are seeing a partial return to ‘normal’ behavior in 2021, and expect time spent with some types of media to decline. However, when it comes to digital formats, consumers will keep many of their new media habits, at least to some extent,” the firm noted.

In the U.S., adults in the year 2023 will spend upward of 8 hours (8:20) of time with digital media, accounting for 64 percent of total time with media, eMarketer forecasted in the analysis. Both subscription and over-the-top (OTT) television and social experienced pandemic-induced bumps and will remain at the forefront of adults’ daily activities. Time spent with social will remain steady from 2021 to 2023, after initially breaking the hour mark in 2020. Driving digital video time is subscription OTT time, which will see the adult population spend nearly an hour and a half per day in 2023, an addition of 9 minutes from 2021, according to eMarketer.

By 2023, adults in Canada will spend almost 55 percent of total media time spent per day on digital media, equating to 5 hours and 31 minutes (5:31) a day. This is driven by growing time spent on social networks and watching digital video, which will take up almost 50 percent of digital time by 2023. In 2021, Canadians will spend over 10 hours on media each day, down slightly from the pandemic-driven highs of 2020, according to eMarketer’s analysis.

The firm noted also that its “time spent with media” estimates for nine countries covered in a more comprehensive report are based on an analysis of 11,329 metrics from 400 global sources. The methodology involves the collection of third-party data—primarily survey data—from adult respondents, who were asked about their media use habits. Data is also sourced from online and mobile activity tracking services, government data, and interviews with industry experts, eMarketer said.