London – You might think a cosy night in would see the family slumped on the sofa in front of the TV.
But according to a survey, our rising internet use means we are less and less likely to watch shows on a traditional living room television set.
The poll, carried out by industry regulator Ofcom, revealed that Britons now spend twice the amount of time on the internet as they did a decade ago.
Adults are surfing the web for an average of 20 hours and 30 minutes every week, with the biggest growth coming from tablets and smartphones, which allow people to conveniently watch videos on the move.
Thanks to the improved availability of wi-fi and high-speed internet access through 4G mobile masts, it is now easier than ever to watch TV programmes online.
At the same time, web-based premium TV channels such as Netflix and Amazon Prime or the BBC’s iPlayer have diverted families away from traditional channels.
This combination of factors have meant that the idea of a family gathering around a TV to watch a programme together is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
The proportion of people who regularly watch TV or films online has risen from one in ten in 2007 to more than one in four today – or 27 percent. Four out of ten 16- to 24-year-olds regularly watching films and TV programmes online rather than on a conventional channel.
And only 17 per cent of young adults name the family TV as the one device they would miss the most, according to Ofcom’s media use and attitudes report. Most said they would be more likely to miss their mobile phone.
The increase in the amount of time spent online was also the most dramatic among people aged 16 to 24, who spend the equivalent of more than a full day a week – 27 hours and 36 minutes – glued to one screen or another. The report concludes: ‘2014 saw the biggest increase in time spent online in a decade.’ – Daily Mail