The amount of time we spend watching television shows is incredible, but it is one of our favorite ways to relax and pass the time. However, a new study shows the iPhone has already passed some of America’s top watched TV shows.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]According to a report from Flurry Analytics, the amount of time people spend playing social games on their iPhones is growing. Flurry says social gaming on the iPhone has a daily audience of more than 19 million who spend over 22 minutes per day using these apps.

If you treat those numbers as a consumer audience, Flurry says social gaming on the iPhone falls between NBC’s Sunday Night Football and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. The analysis also shows that the iPhone is only 4 million viewers short of beating the number one prime-time show on television, FOX’s American Idol.

It’s important to note that Flurry Analytics is only in 20 percent of the apps and the study only focuses on two categories of applications, social games and social networking apps. Given those facts, Flurry said, “it’s clear that iOS devices are already ahead of prime time television’s hottest shows.”

“Given that the app store only launched in July 2008, these figures are staggering,” wrote Flurry’s Peter Farago. “Mass consumption of applications on mobile devices has exploded in record time. Also noteworthy is that the enormous audience these applications reach takes place every day, 365 days a year. Compared to a top television series, which airs 22 episodes a season, advertisers can reach a larger consumer audience through applications 15 times more frequently.”