Digital TV News

Brits are ‘digital TV addicts’

Thursday 17 December, 2009

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

The British public’s appetite for TV has risen more than any other nation over the last 12 months, according to research by regulator Ofcom.

Ofcom’s International Communications Market report found that Britain had biggest increase in time spent watching TV during 2008 compared to any other country in the survey, up by 3.2%.

The industry regulator compared the UK with 11 other countries including France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Spain, Sweden and Ireland.

On average, Brits were found to spend 3.8 hours a day watching TV, while the average per day across all the European countries surveyed, was 3.5 hours.

Jon Ingram, operations director at Digitalchoices.co.uk, said: “More and more households are embracing digital TV, and with more channels to choose from, is it any wonder we’re watching more TV every day?”

American viewers watched the most television during 2008, at an average of 4.6 hours a day - an increase of 1.8% from 2007.

Households in Sweden continued to spend the least amount of time watching TV at 2.7 hours a day, although this was an increase of 1.9% since 2007.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said: “The report shows that UK consumers have benefited from competition in the form of lower prices. Innovation means that the UK is well placed in the take up and availability of digital services.”