Americans will devote half their lives to forms of media next year
By Janet Kornblum
USA TODAY

Americans love their media — so much that next year they'll spend nearly half their lives watching TV, going online, listening to the radio (or music) and reading. That's what the U.S. Census Bureau is predicting in its "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007," out today.

The annual report uses data from several sources, including private industry and non-profits. It has statistics on everything from elections to transportation to finances.

In 2000, Americans each spent an average of 3,333 hours consuming media — and most of that time (1,467 hours) was spent in front of the TV, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a media-oriented money management company that supplied much of the media data used in the report.

Next year, Americans will spend 3,518 hours with their beloved media, including 1,555 in front of the TV, says Veronis Suhler Stevenson. That means the average American will spend roughly 146 days, or five months, consuming media. the rest