TV viewing at record levels in 2011
UK linear TV viewing figures for 2011 equaled the record high set in 2010, according to Thinkbox. The average viewer watched four hours, two minutes of linear TV a day in 2011 (28 hours, 14 minutes a week), new figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) show.
Commercial TV channels were responsible for maintaining the record viewing level, accounting for 64% of all linear TV viewing, an increase of 1.3% points on 2010. For the younger 16-34 audience this rises to 72%.
During 2011, the average person watched 18 hours, 11 minutes of commercial TV a week (two hours, 36 minutes a day), an increase of 22 minutes a week on 2010. In the last ten years, commercial TV viewing has increased by over three hours, 30 minutes a week (31 minutes a day).
Thinkbox predicts that total linear TV viewing levels will now stabilise after a sustained period of record growth. This growth has been caused by a number of factors, including:
- Technology innovations (such as digital TV recorders, HD and 3D) that enhance the TV experience and magnetise viewers to TV sets;
- Greater choice of TV to watch as more households switch to digital TV (97% of homes, according to the BARB Establishment Survey Q3 2011);
- On-demand TV services which send people back to the broadcast schedules. 89% of people watch on-demand TV mainly to catch- or keep-up with missed broadcast TV (source: Decipher/Thinkbox);
- Better measurement of TV viewing following the launch of an updated TV measurement system in January 2010, which more accurately captures viewing on second TV sets and on-demand TV viewed on TV sets in-home within 7 days of broadcast;
- Excellent TV programming and a wide variety of channels which cater for all tastes
- The economic recession encouraging people to stay in more.
Additional, non-TV set viewing
The BARB figures do not include TV viewed on devices other than TV sets. BARB has been monitoring viewing on devices other than TV sets since 2005. Its data suggests that there is an additional 1.2% of TV viewing via other devices, 2.9% for 16-34 year olds.*
‘Time-shifted’ viewing
According to BARB, 90.6% of the TV watched in the UK during 2011 was watched live, as it was broadcast. Non-live, ‘time-shifted’ viewing accounted for 9.4% of the UK’s TV consumption during 2011, up from 7.6% in 2010 due to more households now owning a digital television recorder (DTR) such as Sky+ or Freeview+. 50% of UK households now own a DTR.
In households that own DTRs, 84.7% was watched live and 15.3% viewed time-shifted within seven days. This level of time-shifting has been stable since the first DTRs were released ten years ago.
Commercial impacts
The increase in commercial viewing has also meant an increase in the number of TV ads viewed. Commercial impacts (the number of ads watched at normal speed) during 2011 were up 2.6% on 2010, and have grown by 19.6% over the last five years to a new record high. The average viewer watched 47 ads a day during 2011.
Lindsey Clay, Thinkbox’s managing director, said: “These figures explain why so many tech companies want to join the TV industry. Many companies are flocking to launch new TV services or social media services that feed off people’s love affair with TV.
“It is obvious that people want to watch TV programmes on the best screen in the home if they can and 2012 will bring more opportunities to do that with the sale of connected TVs and more catch-up TV services to the TV set. And alongside that there is now a wide variety of personal screens to watch TV on which make TV even more convenient; tablets are really delivering an excellent mobile TV experience.
“TV continues to be the most effective form of advertising there is and the instant responses that 2nd screens enable is making it even more so.”
The new figures will be published in Thinkbox’s Annual Review, which will be available at the beginning of March in full on Thinkbox’s website www.thinkbox.tv.