iWorld
US internet use eats at TV viewing & socialising: Survey
MUMBAI: According to a recent study by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society (SIQQS), the time spent by the average internet user in the United States of America using the internet cuts into the time he spends for television viewing and family.
The surfing time is mainly drawn from the family time than the television time.
The study found that as much as 75 per cent of the population in the United States now has access to the internet either at home or work.
According to the study, the time an internet user spends online is 3 hours per day, while the time he spends on TV is 1.7 hours. Internet users watch television for one hour and 42 minutes a day in the United States, compared with the national average of two hours, points out the study.
SIQQS director Norman Nie points says it is not the TV viewing more affected by the web phenomenon, but the time spent for family. He has been quoted in media reports as saying, “We were very interested to discover that the increase in Internet use over the last 10 years has eaten into television viewing less than expected. Time online seems to come more out of family discretionary time.”
According to the study, an hour of time spent using the Internet reduces the time spent on social life by 23.5 minutes, lowers the amount of time spent watching television by 10 minutes and shortens sleep by 8.5 minutes.
SIQQS collected the data from a representative sample of 4,839 American respondents between the ages of 18 and 64 in June 2004. Respondents were asked to create detailed diaries of how they spent their time during six randomly selected hours of the previous day.
While breaking up the internet consumption time, 57 per cent of the use was devoted to communications (e-mail, instant messaging and chat rooms) and 43 per cent for other activities including web browsing, shopping and game playing. Users said they spent 8.7 percent of their internet time playing online games. The study also found that users spend a small portion of their online time in contact with family members.
The study states that time spent on spam accounts for five minutes of every hour spent online, which translates into10 8-hour workdays per year. The researchers found that the amount of internet use does not differ by gender. But women on average use e-mail, instant messaging and social networking more than men, while men spend more time browsing, reading discussion groups and participating in chat rooms. About the percentage of respondents who use internet by education, the survey rates people having bachelor’s degree or higher as the top with 43.2 per cent, followed by those attended some college (33.1 per cent).
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
