Multiscreening is the act of dividing your attention between more than one electronic device with a screen at one time. This could mean balancing your attention between or among your desktop, laptop, notebook, or smartphone simultaneously.

While it is assumed that most multiscreening involves using a secondary electronic device while watching TV, a 2013 study performed by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK found that 34% of all multiscreening surprisingly did not involve TV usage.

Approximately 50% of the multiscreeners in this group under the age of 55 divided their time between a smartphone and a laptop. Approximately 25% of women in this same group utilized a desktop and their smartphone concurrently, and 33% of men did the same.

Only 1 out of 5 people multiscreening today are using a smartphone and tablet at the same time. However, this number was higher for parents, who were found to multiscreen with a smartphone and tablet by about 25%.

While it was initially surprising to see that a TV is not a common device for multiscreening, the popularity of Internet TV may be the reason why. More and more people are streaming their favorite movies and television shows on electronic devices other than their television.

The device that multiscreeners used most often with their TV remains to be the laptop. 9 out of 10 Internet users working or browsing the Internet while sitting on their couch watching TV still use a laptop.