In the past, if you wanted to find out information about what's about to play next on television you would simply reach for the remote and view the TV listings on the screen.

Yet, a new study from market research and consulting company Parks Associates (News - Alert) has revealed that consumers are now starting to use mobile devices and second-screen apps to access this data instead of remote controls and interactive program guides.

Findings highlight that 36 percent of smartphone owners and 35 percent of table owners use the corresponding devices to look up product and service information while watching television, whereas over one-third of owners regularly use apps to search for information related to shows or to check TV listings.

"With second-screen offerings for TV shows like Breaking Bad and Glee, companies are catching up to current habits of viewers, who are already interacting with their mobile devices while watching TV," Heather Way, senior research analyst of Parks Associates, said in a statement. "Almost 20 percent of millennials (ages 18-30) access pay-TV programs via their service provider on their smartphone. For many of these viewers, mobile is not the 'second-screen' but just as important, or more so, than the TV screen."

Parks Associates will soon discuss usage and ways to improve second-screen services during Connections: The Premier Connected Home Conference, which will be held from Monday, May 20 through Thursday, May 23 in Las Vegas. The discussion will feature executives from companies such as DirecTV (News - Alert), mPortal, GetGlue and ConnecTV.

"Parks Associates has done an outstanding job gathering the right people together to talk about the implications of second-screen services, mobile video, and how businesses and consumers may benefit from future innovations in connected homes," added Rob Mesirow, vice president of Operations at CTIA (News - Alert).

In other company news, Parks Associates recently found that 44 percent of United States broadband households would enable utilities to manage and monitor their home appliances to save money.