CatchUp TV Now Accounts For 20% of Television Viewing

YouView has conducted its first user survey and has shown that around 20% of the country’s TV content viewing is taken up using catch up and on demand services, rather than being recorded or watched live. These figures are likely to be partially responsible for the drive behind producing better quality and more affordable televisions. The survey also showed that the average home has four devices on which they watch television but that the TV remains the most popular.

YouView is an Internet TV service that works differently to most. Rather than scrolling forward and planning viewing ahead, the YouView box enables viewers to scroll back over the past week and choose which programmes from that period they want to watch. The YouView box has proven extremely popular in the year since its first launch and to celebrate 52 weeks of catch up TV viewing for its users, they have conducted a survey to show how people now enjoy TV content at home.

The survey was conducted by YouGov on behalf of YouView included more than 2000 respondents and asked questions regarding how respondents watched, recorded, and consumed their favourite TV shows. The results show that people are becoming less likely to record TV and more likely to use catch up services like YouView, BBC iPlayer, and other On Demand services.

The survey showed that viewers record less than 9 hours of TV a week and delete, on average, four programmes without watching them first. Furthermore, the average TV viewer now watches around 6 hours of catch up TV every week so the gap is closing between the two. The difference is even closer in the younger generations; those that are more likely to use additional devices like laptops and tablet computers to watch their favourite shows.

77% of respondents said that the TV was still their primary means of watching TV but the average household now has four devices, including the TV, on which they watch content. For the technologically savvy 18-24 year age group, this figure increased to an average of six devices. Devices include cheap TV sets used in bedrooms and other rooms as well as laptops, tablets, and even smartphones.

57% said that they use their computer, as well as their TV sets to watch content and 14% use a games console (albeit, connected to a TV in most cases) to enjoy their favourite shows. The LCD TV, however, remains the most popular means of recording, watching, and enjoying TV content so while additional devices may be more prominent they still have some way to go in order to replace the television.

Other figures from the survey showed that consumers watch nearly 2 hours of content while away from the home and 10% claim that the computer is their primary means of watching any type of TV content. Surprisingly, 30% of respondents said that they still prefer a printed TV guide in order to help decide what they will watch in the coming days and weeks.

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