Visual attention to television programs with a second-screen application

Abstract

This study examined participants' visual attention via eye-movement patterns as they watched two television shows---one a drama, the other a documentary---while interacting with synchronized second-screen applications introduced in spring 2011. The second screen garnered considerable visual attention, about 30% of the total viewing session. Visual attention went to the tablet screen even without a recent "push" of interactive content and without advertising content on the TV screen. However, interactive content and TV advertising did trigger more attention to the tablet app. The presence of the second screen also dramatically decreased the average gaze length on TV as described in previous research.