U.K. TV Viewing Down in 2014

LONDON: Total average daily TV viewing in the U.K. during 2014 was 3 hours, 44 minutes, 30 seconds a day per person, a decline of 4.5 percent from 2013, as watching on traditional television sets dropped sharply while consumption on other screens grew year on year.

Overall, there was a decline in total TV viewing of 10 minutes, 30 seconds a day compared to 2013. This was entirely due to a drop in TV set viewing, which decreased by 4.7 percent. Viewing on other screens, such as tablets and laptops, grew year on year by 17 percent.

This total is based on the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board’s (BARB) standard measurement for TV set viewing and figures supplied by the U.K. broadcasters to Thinkbox for TV viewing on other screens.

Although viewing on TV sets declined, they continue to be the U.K.’s screen of choice by some distance. In 2014, 98.4 percent of all TV was watched on a TV set—86 percent of TV-set viewing was on a TV set in the living room, according to BARB.

The majority of this decline in TV-set viewing is accounted for by the heaviest TV viewers (those who were watching over an average of 4 hours a day) watching less. BARB analysis shows that the number of viewers who watched over 4 hours a day in 2014 fell by 7.2 percent compared with 2013. With this in mind, the decline isn’t due to people having stopped watching linear TV; it is that those who were watching the most watched a bit less.

In 2014, 88 percent of all TV-set viewing was watched live compared to 89 percent in 2013. Specifically, in the 58 percent of households that own a digital television recorder, 83 percent of TV on a TV set in 2014 was watched live compared to 84 percent in 2013. Forty-eight percent of all recorded viewing was watched within 24 hours of recording and 81 percent watched within two days.

The research also found that 65.8 percent of TV-set viewing in 2014 was to commercial TV channels, meaning that the average person watched 2 hours, 25 minutes of commercial TV a day.

Lindsey Clay, Thinkbox's chief executive, said: “TV viewing is changing and the data needs to be examined very carefully to understand what is actually going on. After years of record growth for broadcast TV as on-demand began to flower, new viewing trends are now becoming established and there’s a new ecosystem for TV. It is nuanced, it raises new opportunities for advertisers, it reflects how modern viewers want to enjoy TV—and it is a royal pain in the arse for BARB to measure. But, it is here, it is the future and we should embrace it, understand it and help advertisers make the most of it because TV remains by far their most potent weapon.”