My colleague Jackson Jeyanayagam forwarded this eMarketer article on the growing amount of eyeball time for non-TV devices. Still, there are interesting factors to consider in Asian culture and how this impacts us.

For example, it’s a very common practice over here for whole families to watch TV and eat dinner at the same time.  In China, HK, Korea, Japan and other places, the TV comes on at 6pm and stays on until 10 or 11pm.  Living in an apartment (not a house) is the norm here, so the TV is usually within viewing distance of the dining table. 

Non-TV devices gaining eyeball time could probably be seen negatively as an erosion of the family unit, in some places.  In China, with the one-child policy, the younger generation (born after 1980, hence the shorthand “Post-80 generation”) is particularly individualistic and is a huge consumer base for one-on-one viewing devices versus group devices, but the traditional viewing habits around the TV will mean Asia adopts this trend a bit more slowly.

Watching TV, But Not on TV
MAY 17, 2007
Would you pay to watch YouTube clips on your TV?

Over a quarter of males ages 13 to 34 watch video on devices other than TVs, according to E-Poll's "Multi-Platform Viewing of Video Content" report.

The study of viewing habits in 2007 found three-quarters of consumers ages 13 and older viewed video content on PCs.

Over half of those who watched video content online said they were interested in transferring it to their television sets. Only 13% of television viewers said they had already made such a transfer. Half didn't know it was possible.

Source: eMarketer.com - Watching TV, But Not on TV