A 2014 TNS study examining the percent of people who think ?it is essential to have access to internet, all the time, everywhere? discovered that some 70% of Chinese responded in the affirmative, versus 39% in Japan and 34% in the US. Another part of this gap may relate to the fact that, despite the rise of the internet, the US commands a more loyal viewer base of TV viewers, who can legitimately claim are treated to more original, higher quality content that what their Chinese peers are left to view under the supervision of a more watchful host government.
The Chinese indeed seem to meet more of their needs online than many of their developed market peers. TNS data show that Chinese Internet users spent an average 4.3 hours on the Internet (excluding working hours) each day in 2014, leading its global peers (US at 3.8 hrs and Japan at 3.5 hrs). These facts indeed may partly explain why advertisers have shifted their budget to digital media more aggressively in China than elsewhere
