- Linear TV viewing in UK matched record 4 hours a day average set in 2010 -

- More commercial TV is being watched -

- 90.6% of all linear TV is watched live; only 9.4% is ‘time-shifted’ -

London, 24 January 2012: Thinkbox announced today that linear TV viewing figures in the UK for 2011 equaled the record high set in 2010. The average viewer watched 4 hours, 2 minutes of linear TV a day in 2011 (28 hours, 14 minutes a week), according to new figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB).

This strong performance underlines viewers’ preference for watching TV as it is broadcast and on a TV set whenever possible.  The many new ways to watch TV via other screens such as laptops, tablets and smartphones are growing, and a welcome solution to out of home viewing, but they are not included in BARB’s figures and are not impacting on linear viewing.

Commercial TV channels (i.e. non-BBC channels) were responsible for maintaining the record viewing level, accounting for 64% of all linear TV viewing, an increase of 1.3% points on 2010. For the younger 16-34 audience this rises to 72%.

During 2011, the average person watched 18 hours, 11 minutes of commercial TV a week (2 hours, 36 minutes a day), an increase of 22 minutes a week on 2010. In the last ten years, commercial TV viewing has increased by over 3 hours, 30 minutes a week (31 minutes a day).

Thinkbox predicts that total linear TV viewing levels will now stabilise after a sustained period of record growth. This growth has been caused by a number of factors, including:

• Technology innovations (such as digital TV recorders, HD and 3D) that enhance the TV experience and magnetise viewers to TV sets;
• Greater choice of TV to watch as more households switch to digital TV (97% of homes, according to the BARB Establishment Survey Q3 2011);
• On-demand TV services which send people back to the broadcast schedules. 89% of people watch on-demand TV mainly to catch- or keep-up with missed broadcast TV (source: Decipher/Thinkbox);
• Better measurement of TV viewing following the launch of an updated TV measurement system in January 2010, which more accurately captures viewing on second TV sets and on-demand TV viewed on TV sets in-home within 7 days of broadcast;
• Excellent TV programming and a wide variety of channels which cater for all tastes
• The economic recession encouraging people to stay in more.

Additional, non-TV set viewing

The BARB figures do not include TV viewed on devices other than TV sets. BARB has been monitoring viewing on devices other than TV sets since 2005.  Its data suggests that there is an additional 1.2% of TV viewing via other devices, 2.9% for 16-34 year olds.*

‘Time-shifted’ viewing

According to BARB, 90.6% of the TV watched in the UK during 2011 was watched live, as it was broadcast. Non-live, ‘time-shifted’ viewing accounted for 9.4% of the UK’s TV consumption during 2011, up from 7.6% in 2010 due to more households now owning a digital television recorder (DTR) such as Sky+ or Freeview+. 50% of UK households now own a DTR.

In households that own DTRs, 84.7% was watched live and 15.3% viewed time-shifted within 7 days.   This level of time-shifting has been stable since the first DTRs were released ten years ago.

Commercial impacts

The increase in commercial viewing has also meant an increase in the number of TV ads viewed. Commercial impacts (the number of ads watched at normal speed) during 2011 were up 2.6% on 2010, and have grown by 19.6% over the last five years to a new record high. The average viewer watched 47 ads a day during 2011.

Lindsey Clay, Thinkbox’s Managing Director: “These figures explain why so many tech companies want to join the TV industry.  Many companies are flocking to launch new TV services or social media services that feed off people’s love affair with TV.

“It is obvious that people want to watch TV programmes on the best screen in the home if they can and 2012 will bring more opportunities to do that with the sale of connected TVs and more catch-up TV services to the TV set.  And alongside that there is now a wide variety of personal screens to watch TV on which make TV even more convenient; tablets are really delivering an excellent mobile TV experience.

“TV continues to be the most effective form of advertising there is and the instant responses that 2^nd screens enable is making it even more so.”

The new figures will be published in Thinkbox’s Annual Review, which will be available at the beginning of March in full on Thinkbox’s website www.thinkbox.tv.

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Press contact: Simon Tunstill | Head of PR, Thinkbox | simon.tunstill@thinkbox.tv | 020 7630 2326

* Measurement of TV viewing on other devices than the TV set is based on a nationally representative survey carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of BARB.

Broadcast TV viewing via the TV set is measured by BARB’s live viewing panel representing the in-home viewing behaviour of the 26 million TV households within the UK, whether live or time-shifted within 7 days of broadcast.

About Thinkbox

Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Media Innovations and UKTV.  Thinkbox works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV.

TV today has more to offer advertisers than ever before, not least because this growing medium remains at the heart of popular culture and advertising effectiveness. From understanding how audiences engage with TV advertising, explaining innovative and affordable solutions, to providing the rigorous proof of effectiveness that advertisers need, Thinkbox is here to help customers meet their marketing objectives.