World Cup helps increase TV viewing in first six months of 2010

The latest TV viewing figures from BARB show that people in the UK watched 28 hours, 15 minutes of linear, broadcast TV a week the six months to June 2010.

This is an increase of 2 hours, 2 minutes a week year-on-year, and 9.1% higher than the 5 year average viewing time for the six month period.

Growth was seen across every age group.

The increase in viewing was partially due to the World Cup during June. Other causes include:

• Greater choice of TV to watch as more households switch to digital TV (now 94.2%)
• An updated TV measurement system, launched in January, which more accurately captures viewing of second TV sets and on-demand TV
• New TV technologies (such as digital TV recorders) that enhance the TV experience and magnetise viewers to TV sets
• On-demand TV services which send people back broadcast schedules. 78% of people watch on-demand TV mainly to catch- or keep-up with missed broadcast TV (source: Work Research/Thinkbox)
• The economic recession encouraging people to stay in more

Commercial broadcast TV viewing accounted for 62% of total viewing in the first half of 2010, with the average viewer watching 17 hours, 26 minutes of commercial TV a week during Jan-Jun. This is an increase of 48 minutes compared to the same period last year.

Commercial TV viewing was up by 1 hour, 20 minutes on the five year average for the period – an increase of 8.3%.

The increase in commercial viewing has meant an increase in the number of TV ads viewed. The number of ads watched at normal speed during the first half of 2010 were up 4.1% year-on-year, growing by 20.6% over the last five years to this record high.

The average viewer watched 45 ads a day compared to 43 ads for the same period last year, and £1.9 billion was spent on TV advertising during the first half of 2010, according to Nielsen – up 19% year-on-year.

Non-live, ‘time-shifted’ viewing accounted for a total of 7.1% of the TV consumption in the UK for first half of the year, and 80.4% of timeshifted viewing took place within 7 days of the original broadcasts.

In households that have DVRs, timeshifting represented a larger proportion of TV viewing (13.7%).

Tess Alps, Thinkbox’s chief executive said: “These figures look remarkable at first glance, but they are explained in part by the fact that BARB is more accurately capturing the amount of TV being watched.

“We know that technology is also making TV ever more attractive and we should never underestimate the fundamental importance of compelling content. The World Cup was a major TV event in the first half of the year, on top of other successful new programmes, such as the election debates, Take Me Out, Mo, Going Postal, Flash Forward and Glee.

“It all points to the enormous appeal of linear TV in the UK as new ways to watch TV grow.”