The UK has become a nation of media multi-taskers, as people use PCs, Tablets, TVs and phones simultaneously, according to a new report from Ofcom. The latest Ofcom communications market report indicates that more than half of UK adults regularly using other media whilst watching TV. Changing TV habits The traditional living room format has […]
The UK has become a nation of media multi-taskers, as people use PCs, Tablets, TVs and phones simultaneously, according to a new report from Ofcom.
The latest Ofcom communications market report indicates that more than half of UK adults regularly using other media whilst watching TV.
Changing TV habits
The traditional living room format has transformed into a “digital media hub”, according to the annual release, as we become increasingly adept at updating our Twitter status whilst catching up on the latest must-watch TV show.
Despite the average household owning at least three types of internet-enabled device, the proportion of UK adults that viewing via their main TV set increased from 88% in 2002 to 91% in 2012.
In fact, live TV accounted for 90% of all viewing in 2012, with the average time spent watching TV increasing to just over four hours per person. The report also highlights a trend in households reverting back to just a single TV set in the home – 41% in 2012 compared with 35% in 2002.
James Thickett, Ofcom’s Director of Research, said: “Our research shows that increasingly families are gathering in the living room to watch TV just as they were in the 1950s – but now delivered on bigger, wider and more sophisticated sets. Unlike the 1950s family, however they are also doing their own thing. They are tweeting about a TV show, surfing the net or watching different content altogether on a tablet.”
Switching from texts to chat apps
Web-based forms of communication, such as email, instant messaging orsocial networking are now the most popular method of communication amongst young people. 84% of 16-24 year olds use at least one of these forms of communication on a weekly basis – higher than texting on a mobile phone (80%).
The survey also found that one in five 16-24 year olds agree that it is acceptable to start a relationship by text, email or personal messaging on social networking sites.
Rise of smartphones and tablets
Smartphone ownership may have almost doubled in the past two years but tablet up-take has risen incredibly fast. Household up-take of tablet computers has more than doubled between 2012 and 2013 and almost a quarter of households own at least one of these devices.
Media ‘stacking and meshing’
According to Ofcom, just over half of all UK adults are regular media multi-taskers, dividing the practice into two terms: ‘meshing’ and ‘stacking’:
Media ‘meshing’ – conducting activities or communicating via other devices while watching TV; these activities are related to the TV programme being watched.
Media ‘stacking’ – conducting activities or communicating via other devices while watching TV; but these activities are not related to the TV programme being watched.
Combined the above make up media multi-tasking. According to Ofcom, a quarter of UK adults are regularly ‘media meshing’ such as talking on the phone (16%) or texting (17%) about the content they’re watching.
The survey results show that 49% of people use their smartphones and tablets for completely unrelated activities while watching TV every week.
Read the full report here
The downloadable spreadsheet with selection of the Ofcom data can be found here.
