Brits Spend 2 Months A Year Watching TV & “Chatterboxing”

Britain has always been something of a nation of television addicts who settle down in front of the box to watch everything from their favourite soaps and the news to one of the vast range of reality TV shows that have hit our screens over recent years. However, whilst most people are well aware that they watch a lot of TV, what they may not realise is that the average Brit now spends around two months of each year purely on watching television.

Watching TV
Brits spend 2 months a year watching TV & “chatterboxing”

It is a scary thought, but according to a report released by TV Licensing, Brits are actually dedicating around one sixth of the year to sitting in front of their HDTV and whatnot to watch movies, news, dramas and other programmes. However, it is not just regular TV viewing that UK residents are engaging in these days – many have taken to “chatterboxing” where they are using a second screen to communicate with friends and acquaintances while watching the show.

The report comes from research that was carried out for TeleScope 2012, which looks at the viewing habits and trends of viewers in the United Kingdom. The data indicates that more and more people are becoming big fans of “chatterboxing” where they are commenting to others via SMS or online about the television programme that they are watching. In fact, it has been suggested that this habit is actually encouraging more people to watch scheduled TV.

Figures showed that 26 percent of adults, rising to 44 percent of those aged under 35, said that they had commented to others via a second screen (such as a smartphone or a tablet) whilst watching a television programme. Research data also revealed that 24 percent of under 35s who are “social media savvy” enjoy watching TV live rather than through catch up because they want to be involved in the “chatterboxing” when the programme is being broadcast for the first time. Around 19 percent said that they like to watch an original broadcast rather than catch-up versions because they believe that the comments on social media sites will contain spoilers that would ruin the plot or ending for them.

In addition to this, 17 percent of under 35s who use social media said that they have started watching a programme that they would not otherwise have watched because of the hype that they have seen about it on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

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