Digital Tops 50% As Analogue Audiences Slip
The IPA Trends In Television Viewing report for Quarter 4 2004 shows digital viewing at an all time high, while the nation’s television viewing slipped slightly as a whole towards the end of last year.
According to the IPA, Quarter 4 saw average daily viewing hours across all TV at 3.89. While this is up by 0.43 on Quarter 3, year on year the figure represents a slip of 0.06. Average viewing hours for the full year were also down, with 2004 closing at 3.71, a dip of 0.02 on 2003’s figure.
The nation’s largest commercial broadcaster, ITV, saw its audience share increase to 23.3% in Quarter 4, a rise made at the expense of BBC1, whose share for the same period decreased to 23.8%. Channel 4 also saw a dip in its share, falling below the 10% mark for the second time in 2004 to end the year at 9%.
Elsewhere the nation’s transition to digital TV continued to gather pace, with a record 54.4% of homes watching via digital. The increase will please broadcasters eager to usher in an era of digital-only broadcasts. However, terrestrial broadcasters still achieve a higher share of viewing via analogue.
| Average Daily Hours of Viewing – All TV | |||||
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Full Year | |
| 2000* | 3.86 | 3.49 | 3.43 | 3.91 | 3.67 |
| 2001* | 3.95 | 3.46 | 3.34 | 3.75 | 3.62 |
| 2002 | 3.54 | 3.47 | 3.36 | 3.80 | 3.54 |
| 2003 | 3.99 | 3.55 | 3.41 | 3.95 | 3.73 |
| 2004 | 4.00 | 3.50 | 3.46 | 3.89 | 3.71 |
| * Old Panel | |||||
| Source: IPA | |||||
Demographically, channel performances retained much the same pattern as in previous years, with a strong bias of the non-terrestrial audience towards the younger age groups. Non-terrestrial now takes a 45.6% share amongst children.
Commenting on the report, IPA research director Lynne Robinson said: “The latest TV Trends report shows that the overall level of television viewing in the last quarter of 2004, and 2004 as a whole, was fairly constant. The major point of interest in the data is the continual growth in digital homes which now constitutes 54% of the television universe. This growth is spearheaded by digital terrestrial.”
IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk
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