David Farnor | On 02, Mar 2015

The rise of the small screen continues, as a growing number of people watch TV on their tablet, phone or computer.

Total average daily TV viewing in the UK during 2014 was 3 hours, 44 minutes, 30 seconds a day per person, according to new research from Thinkbox. Overall, there was a decline in total TV viewing of 10 minutes, 30 seconds a day compared to 2013, a fall of 4.5 per cent. While minuscule, it indicates the gradual shift in audience behaviour. Indeed, the fall was entirely down to a drop in TV set viewing, which decreased by 4.7 per cent, Viewing on other screens, such as tablets and laptops, grew year on year by 17 per cent.

The figures are based on the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board’s (BARB) standard measurement for TV set viewing (which only includes in-home TV viewing on a TV set, live or playback, within 7 days of broadcast) and figures supplied by the UK broadcasters to Thinkbox for TV viewing on other screens.

Although viewing on TV sets declined, they continue to be the UK’s screen of choice by some distance. In 2014, 98.4 per cent of all TV was watched on a TV set. Taking a long-term perspective, TV set viewing was only 0.4 per cent less in 2014 than it was 10 years ago.

Analysis of BARB’s data indicates that 95 per cent of the dip in TV set viewing is accounted for by the heaviest TV viewers watching less; the number of viewers who watched over 4 hours a day in 2014 fell by 7.2 per cent compared with 2013.

The shift of viewing away from traditional broadcasts to video on-demand services is also a key factor. While not as dramatic as in the US TV industry, which is a different beast, the trend is nonetheless evident: last month, the BBC reported a new record high number of requests for iPlayer, as a growing number of people use the service. Viewing on other screens is estimated by Thinkbox to be an extra 4-5 per cent of TV viewing for younger audiences, which compares with the extra 1.6 per cent for the average viewer.of Brits use the catch-up service.

There are no official figures for that, though, because VOD viewing begins to fall outside of what BARB includes in its standard measurements, which, in itself, indicates how significant the change is for the industry. BARB only includes in-home viewing on a TV set, live or playback, within 7 days of broadcast. However, an increasing amount of TV viewing is happening outside these 7 days and out of the home. Since July 2013, BARB has therefore also been measuring time-shifted viewing 8-28 days after broadcast.

Including this viewing changes the picture slightly and gives a more accurate representation of how TV is changing. Including 8-28 day viewing and comparing Jul-Dec 2013 with the same period in 2014, shows the decline in TV set viewing was 3.4 per cent, not the 4.7 per cent based on the standard 7-day measurement.

BARB’s ‘Project Dovetail’ is working towards providing reliable data about new ways TV is being watched on other devices. Early results from it are expected soon. Nielsen, meanwhile, has been working on its own system to measure on-demand viewing.

Lindsey Clay, Thinkbox Chief Executive, comments: “New viewing trends are now becoming established and there’s a new eco-system for TV. It is nuanced, it raises new opportunities for advertisers, it reflects how modern viewers want to enjoy TV – and it is a royal pain in the arse for BARB to measure.”

But this is a slow movement that is in its early days; the drop in the number of heavy viewers explains why TV’s UK population reach has stayed virtually the same (94.6 per cent a week in 2013 vs. 94.2 per cent in 2014). It isn’t that people have stopped watching linear TV altogether; it is that those who were watching the most watched a bit less.

In 2014, for example, 88 per cent of all TV set viewing was watched live compared to 89 per cent in 2013. Specifically, in the 58 per cent of households that own a digital television recorder, 83 per cent of TV on a TV set in 2014 was watched live compared to 84 per cent in 2013. So the level of non-live viewing (i.e. playback and VOD within 7 days on a TV set) seems to be settling around the 15-20 per cent mark.

The report also highlights the dominance of commercial TV: two thirds of TV set viewing in 2014 was to commercial TV channels, meaning that the average person watched 2 hours 25 minutes of commercial TV a day, which works out as 45 ads – 7 ads more a day than ten years ago. Collectively the UK watched an average of 2.65 billion ads a day in 2014.

Add to Watchlist