Television and radio continue to be the most popular form of entertainment and communication in the UK, despite consumers spending more time and money on ‘new media’ such as the internet and mobile phones than ever before.
Figures released from the UK media regulator, Ofcom, show that television still has a large faithful following as the average time spent viewing per UK household increased by 2% to 26.1 hours a week in 2003, driven by the increased number of channels now on offer from television services such as SkyDigital and Freeview.
Digital has also offered a helping hand to radio, which has grown in popularity by 6% to 43.5 hours per household a week. Thanks to advent of digital, radio now offers listeners a larger choice of networks and more platforms are available to receive these such as digital radio, digital television and the internet.
The report shows that in terms of growth in consumer time and money, the internet and mobile phones won the race hands down. Time spent online has risen eight-fold in the past four years from 2 hours to 16 hours in high-speed broadband households. While time spent making mobile phone calls tripled from 10 minutes a week to 27 minutes a week, with text messaging increasing fifteen-fold from 1 message a week to 15.
However, despite the phenomenal growth improvements from the internet the true usage figures have yet to match predictions made in 2000 by industry analysts who said that, the internet would rival and eventually be the death of television.
Digital services look set to continue rising over the next few years as digital television is now available to most of the country with 53% of households already taking advantage of this with a digital enabled set. DAB digital radio is currently reaching over 85% of the UK population, while broadband services are available to 88.7% of households and take-up is growing rapidly, says Ofcom.
Interestingly, there has been a shift in revenue for the communications sector over the past four years, said the industry watchdog. For the first time ever in the UK, the total amount of revenue raised by television through subscriptions exceeded that from advertising. While, in the telecoms industry, spending on mobile phones has exceeded fixed-line phone calls, again for the first time ever.
The average British household now spends 4% of its budget on media and communication services, up from 2.9% in 1999, with average spending on television rising from £2.68 a week to £4.36 a week in 2003.
Ofcom’s senior partner of strategy and developments, Ed Richards said: “The report also reveals the extend to which the UK is becoming a digital nation, with widespread availability of digital networks of all kinds. This is to be welcomed; the advance of digital technology brings increased consumer choice and greater innovation through broadband access, digital television, music downloads, digital radio and more.”
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