Christmas TV viewing to near 300 million hours a day

Square-eyed Britons are set to watch a total of 296 million hours of TV per day over the Christmas period, according to a new study from adtech firm RadiumOne.

Ignoring all current medical advice warning against sedentary lifestyles, Britons over 16 will watch an average of 5.7 hours of TV a day this Christmas across various screens, with one in five (21%) planning to spend over ten hours a day watching TV programmes.

At six hours per day, men will average more than women (5.3 hours), while TV viewing is forecast to decrease with age – from 5.9 hours for 16-34s to 5.4 hours for people over 55.

Over two thirds (67%) plan to watch more TV over the Christmas period than at other times of the year, with 25-34 year olds (82%) and those living in Wales (81%) and the North East (77%) the most likely to increase their usual viewing habits.
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Despite the lure of the traditional box – which seven in 10 people say will be the only device they watch TV on – other devices will play a big role in festive viewing according to the study.

30% will use some form of connected device to watch TV; laptops (19%) being the most popular ahead of tablets (11%), desktop computers (10%) and smartphones (9%).

Multi-tasking is also set to be popular, particularly amongst young people: seven in 10 (69%) tablet and smartphone owners expect to use these devices whilst watching Christmas TV, rising to 83% and 89%, respectively, of 16-24 year olds.

Note: The total sample size was 1,000 people aged 16 and over. The survey was conducted online with the figures weighted and representative of all GB adults.