IPA Report Shows TV Viewing Continues To Decline

The IPA has released its fourth quarter Trends in Television report for 2001, which shows that patronage for all major terrestrial TV channels is continuing to decline, whilst non-terrestrial channels now achieve an average weekly patronage of around 40%, compared with 31% two years ago.

The report shows that ITV’s share of viewing remained static during the fourth quarter of last year while BBC1’s share increased period on period. BBC1 achieved a “very strong” audience share during the Christmas week, but according to the IPA, ITV’s share of viewing still remains above that of BBC1 in the important peak-time period.

Lynne Robinson, the IPA’s research director said: “This report reflects the fall in recorded viewing levels for all television in general and ITV in particular throughout 2001. This downward trend is continued in the data produced by the new BARB panel, which commenced on 1 January 2002.”

Figures for the fourth quarter also show that non-terrestrial channels continue to command a share in excess of 20% and account for over a third of commercial viewing. According to the IPA, demographic patterns of viewing across all channels remained relatively unchanged during the last quarter of 2001.

IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk

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