Q2 2007 TV Viewing Stabilising
The latest IPA ‘Trends in Television’ report for Q2 2007 shows the first year on year increase in average daily viewing levels for some time, now standing at 3.46 hours, up from 3.43 hours for the same period last year.
The non-terrestrial channels continue to grow in terms of penetration, patronage and share of viewing, recording an increase in overall viewing share to 36.4% in comparison with 34.6% in the previous quarter. Whilst this growth has impacted negatively on all the terrestrial channel shares, the percentage of total viewing to all commercial channels has remained fairly static at 61.6%
The report also reveals that digital terrestrial remains the fastest growing platform, with 75% of all homes now having some form of digital reception.
Lynne Robinson, research director at the IPA, said: “It is good to see signs of growth in overall television viewing levels. It is also good to see that the commercial sector is maintaining its viewing share as the balance of viewing between terrestrial and non-terrestrial channels changes.”
The IPA’s Q1 2007 report indicated that people were spending an average of 3.85 hours each day watching television, less than they have for almost a decade (see Viewing Levels Lowest For Almost A Decade).
However, recent research from Thinkbox suggested that UK adults spent more time watching broadcast TV in May than during the same month 10 years ago.
Thinkbox said that viewers are spending an increasing amount of time watching commercial TV, with figures released by BARB showing that UK adults have consistently increased their TV viewing time over the past 10 years.
According to BARB, in May 2007 UK adults watched 3.81 hours of broadcast TV each day compared to 3.60 hours in May 1997.
Thinkbox said that the 10-year May viewing average is 3.65 hours, so May 2007 delivered an additional 16 minutes per day compared to that.
In particular, men aged between 16-34 had a large increase in their commercial viewing; since 2001 alone they are watching 10 minutes more (see TV Viewing On Increase Says Thinkbox).
Another report, from Attentional, suggested that total television viewing among 16-34s is set to rise from 2010 onwards following an initial period of decline.
This is in spite of the fact that average daily television viewing among this group is set to drop from around three hours a day in 2006, to 2.86 in 2012, due to competition from new media.
However, Attentional says that high levels of immigration mean that the number of 16-34s is set to grow in the next six years, with a significant minority of young people (just under 20% in 2006) yet to go digital, and some “resistors” not set to convert until at or near analogue switch-off.
Therefore Attentional predicts that the total amount of television watched by this group will begin to rise in 2010, bringing it back to just under the 2006 level by 2012 (see TV Viewing Among 16-34s To Grow From 2010 Onwards).
IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk