Since 2012, our time spent on media questions have shone a light on consumption patterns and shaped media strategies. In Q4 2024, we replaced our original questions with a more comprehensive set, giving you the data you need to stay on top of media trends in a rapidly changing landscape.
What changed in Q4 2024?
We ask about time spent on the most recent day, instead of an average day, to improve recall.
We added a new question on frequency of engagement in the last week to distinguish between frequent and less frequent users.
We created a segmentation to break down heavy, medium, light, and occasional users for each media type by combining data on frequency and time spent.
We’ve added more granularity to the behaviors we track, focusing on what people do with each medium rather than just the devices or platforms they use.
We’re asking these questions in a mobile-friendly format.
For more detail, you can view the exact wording of the questions on our platform.
What happened to existing analyses?
To ensure a smooth transition to the new questions and minimize disruption, we’ve created combined platform questions that include data from both the previous and updated versions of our Time spent on media questions. These combined versions have been applied to all existing audiences and crosstabs to keep them working with data from Q4 2024 onwards.
Because the new format captures time spent up to 4+ hours, while the previous version included 4–6 hours, 6–10 hours, and 10+ hours, we adjusted the retired question to align with the more condensed time segments in the new format.
Additionally, the midpoints used to calculate average time spent have been adjusted to 4 across any options exceeding 4 hours. As a result, when using the combined question, averages for past waves up to Q3 2024 will appear lower than in previous analyses that used more granular time spent options. You can find the previous Time spent on media questions in their original format in the Legacy data folder on our platform, scrolling to the bottom of the Core taxonomy.
The combined questions are a temporary measure to ensure a smooth transition, and we plan to keep them available for 12 months. You should replace these with the new standalone questions available in the GWI Core > Media folder at your earliest convenience to future proof your analyses.
Can I use the old and new questions together to trend data before and after Q4 2024?
Changing how we ask questions can naturally lead to different results. With an updated range of behaviors and a focus on time spent in the last week, we’re looking at media consumption from a slightly different perspective, which may reveal different patterns for some media compared to previous waves. This doesn’t mean the previous data is invalid, but any comparisons with previous waves of data should be made with caution, as our approach has evolved and uses different scales and media definitions.