The Airline Edition -- Mobile Media Consumer Report

So what medium leads mobile media consumption on air travel. A VERY preliminary analysis suggests that magazines are #1 in mobile media consumption amongst air travelers. This was based on just two airplane trips I took on October 29, 2009, and November 2, 2009. It was a roundtrip on JetBlue from LaGuardia to Fort Lauderdale. On the first leg, I analyzed media consumption during the trip (not counting JetBlue's famed in-seat TV screens, which is on at every seat that I saw) and on the return leg, I analyzed media consumption in at the gate. I did not measure computer usage. And at the gate area, I did not measure cell phone activity.

Magazines were the dominant medium that I observed by carefully walking the entire aisle of the plane and the gate area. I attribute this to the ubiquity of colorful and attractive magazine newsstands in the airport, and the ease of portability and use. iPod usage was surprisingly low, dipping to 8% of media consumption at the gate. After all, who wants to be listening to your iPod and miss an announcement that your flight is boarding? Blackberry usage and magazine reading led all media consumption at the gate, clocking in at 29%.

Here are the mobile media consumption stats for the two flights:

Magazines 32%
Books 27%
iPods 16%
Blackberry 13%
Newspapers 10%
Video games 1%
DVD players 1%