The Television-Internet Connection - TIME

I'm writing this column while in my living room watching Gordon Ramsay's new reality-based series Kitchen Nightmares. My wife is not very happy with me. As we spend some time together each evening watching television, my trusty MacBook Pro sits only a few inches away from me, beckoning me to get online and open a web browser. In the past, we have enjoyed watching our favorite shows together, but now Steve Jobs' latest laptop wizardry threatens to come between us.

Lately I've been obsessed with couch multitasking — either working over e-mail while watching the tube, or in most cases adding depth to what I see on the television with real-time web-based research. Tonight, as I actually write a column while watching TV and simultaneously researching what I'm watching, I'm entering dangerous spousal territory. But based on independent research, I don't think I'm alone in this obsession.

According to a study conducted by the Solutions Research Group, roughly 37% of the U.S. population over the age of 12 use their computers while watching television at home. That's great news should I find the need to recruit members for a support group — with the U.S. population exceeding 300 million (I'm not sure exactly how many are under the age of 12, but 79.7% of Americans are older than 14), that gives me a potential membership of about 100 million for a computer-television addiction group, should the need arise. While we don't know exactly what these online television viewers are doing while watching their favorite shows, Internet usage data tells us that there are great opportunities for television programs to create interactive content.

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