More media – more of the time.

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that kids and teens are least likely to ‘multitask’ when they are watching TV or playing videogames. The activity that is most multitasked? E-mail.

When watching TV as a primary activity, young people spend 45% of that time multitasking with other activities, such as eating, doing chores or engaging with other media. When doing computer-related activities, such as looking at Web sites or instant messaging, they are multitasking nearly two-thirds of the time. And when doing e-mail, they are multitasking nearly 80% of the time.

Media multitasking — the use of more than one medium at the same time — is quite high among young people. “In a typical week, eight in 10 spend some of their media time using more than one medium at a time,” Kaiser reported in its new analysis, which covered data gathered in 2004 for its “Generation M” study of 8-to-18-year-olds. “They spend an average of 26% of their media time using more than one medium at a time.”

The findings shed new light on a subject that is gaining interest among media researchers and the marketing community. The more media and devices that consumers are exposed to, the greater the effect may be on their ability to process what they hear, read or see — including marketing messages. Although Kaiser’s new analysis is based on data that are two years old, the implications are still notable.

Other researchers find similarly high levels of multitasking among youth. Among US college students surveyed by Burst Media in August 2006, 69% of males and 59% of females said they simultaneously watch TV while using a computer.

Other findings of the Kaiser analysis include:

Girls are more likely to media multitask than boys. However, race, age, parental education and community income are not significant predictors.

Young people who are heavy multitaskers (those who use another medium “most of the time” they are using at least three out of four media studied) consume nearly twice as much media as those who are “light” multitaskers. Heavy media multitaskers were exposed to 12 hours and 49 minutes of media a day vs. 6 hours and 38 minutes for light media multitaskers.