Ofcom: British Viewers Increasingly Flocking to TV Sets

LONDON: Ofcom’s latest Communications Market Report finds that U.K. viewers are increasingly coming together to watch TV in the living room, with 91 percent of adults watching TV on the main set each week, up from 88 percent ten years ago.

The report reveals, however, that there is more multi-tasking going on while doing so. More than half (53 percent) say they regularly multi-task with other media while watching TV on a weekly basis. A quarter are regularly "media meshing," defined as doing something else but related to what they’re watching on TV. Examples of media meshing include talking on the phone (16 percent) or texting (17 percent) about what they are watching. Others are using social networks (11 percent) or apps to communicate directly with the programs (3 percent).

Live TV accounted for 90 percent of all viewing in 2012. The average viewer was watching just over four hours of TV a day, which is 15 minutes more than reported in 2009. Tablets are helping to support the live-viewing trend. More than half (57 percent) of tablet audiovisual content viewers report watching live TV at least weekly on their device.

James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of research, said: “Our research shows that increasingly families are gathering in the living room to watch TV just as they were in the 1950s—but now delivered on bigger, wider and more sophisticated sets. Unlike the 1950s family, however, they are also doing their own thing. They are tweeting about a TV show, surfing the net or watching different content altogether on a tablet.

“Just a few years ago, we would be talking about last night’s TV at work or at school. Now, we’re having those conversations live while watching TV—using social media, text and instant messaging.”

Overall, total U.K. TV industry revenues were up by 0.8 percent year on year in 2012, reaching £12.3 billion. This was led by increases in subscriptions (0.9 percent), though a decline in TV advertising (-2 percent).