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Perspectives on the UK television sector 2012

TV: Why?

This year TV: Why? endeavours to answer the questions about television we have been asked most often over the past year. Some questions are driven by the emergence of technologies which are shaping the viewing experience. Some are driven by changing behaviour, such as understanding why we watch so much television. We also look at one of the major sources of funding for television – advertising – and why it has been so resilient over the last decade.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the findings:

Six billion hours: the time the UK devotes to watching television in an average month
75% of 16-18 year olds believe that they often learn something new from watching programmes on TV
Up to 70% of homes have at least one way of connecting their TVs, but just 16% use their TV to watch catch up on a regular basis
84% of the UK prefer TV based advertising campaigns with no other medium polling more than 2%.
Nearly a trillion ads: that’s what UK viewers are forecast to watch in 2012.

About the survey

This is the sixth annual report on the current issues impacting the television sector. Deloitte has produced this report as part of its continuing support for the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (MGEITF). The in-depth research was based on interviews with senior industry executives and a detailed online survey of 4,000 respondents in the United Kingdom, undertaken by GfK in June 2012.

This year, MGEITF, Deloitte and industry experts have come together to discuss the current issues impacting the UK television sector, including connected TV, the rise of the second screen and why we watch so much TV.