The trend: Physicians spend less time watching TV and going online than the general population, according to a recent M3 MI report. M3 MI’s 2025 Doctors as Consumers report polled about 3,800 US healthcare professionals (HCPs) across approximately 25 specialties on which media channels and sources they use, and when they engage with them.

Unpacking the trend: Busy HCPs often use their free time to review medical content and professional resources, leaving them less time than the average person to relax and watch TV.

• M3 MI’s survey reveals that physicians spend about 3 hours online in a typical day, far less than the average consumer, per our forecasts.
• Much of HCP’s online leisure time is spent reading general medical content on sites like WebMD or GoodRx.
• While 94% of doctors said they watch TV, they average just two hours per day—far less than the six hours watched daily by the average adult, per M3 MI survey data.

When HCPs do watch TV, it’s typically on demand or via streaming services, and mostly at night, the report found.

• 64% watch streaming or video on demand—slightly higher than the 61% of the general adult population who said the same.
• Depending on the streaming service (e.g., Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video), between 25% and 50% of physicians said they pay more for the ad-free tier. But that’s trending downward: 5% fewer physicians chose streaming’s ad-free tier in 2025 versus 2024.
• Nearly 9 in 10 physicians (89%) watch TV between 6 PM and 11 PM—far more than those who watch from 9 AM to 6 PM (35%) or 6 AM to 9 AM (27%).

Why it matters: HCPs are pharma’s top audience segment, and beyond traditional efforts to educate doctors on new treatments, physicians also gain insights from drugmakers’ direct-to-consumer (D2C) ads.

• Many D2C drug ads promote newly approved brand-name medicines that doctors are just starting to learn about.
• D2C drug ads also arm doctors with more information on which medications are widely marketed, enabling them to better anticipate patient questions.

CTV’s programmatic capabilities allow marketers to target specific HCPs with tailored messaging. A recent example shared on LinkedIn revealed a Moderna ad on Hulu targeting doctors with information on a COVID-19 vaccine, but without the voiceover element required for direct-to-patient drug ads. Doctors can be targeted with ads based on their internet activity or other identifiable data—much like how pharma marketers reach patients with specific conditions based on their online medical appointment history.

Implications for pharma marketers: HCPs are mirroring broader consumer digital media trends—just spending less time doing so—and are also engaging with social media, streaming music, and podcasts, per M3 MI. Marketers must capture physicians’ attention in precise moments with concise, high-impact content that’s backed by evidence-based research and tailored to their clinical specialty when relevant.