More people watching commercial advertising channels
The average time spent watching TV has remained unchanged since last year, yet the proportion of time spent viewing commercial advertising channels has grown marginally.
According to the latest IPA Trend in Television report, the average time spent watching TV every day in the third quarter of 2009 was 3.54 hours, on a par with the same quarter last year.
However, within the 3.54 hours, the time spent viewing advertising channels has increased to 62.6%, compared to 62% in the same quarter in 2008.
More time than ever is being spent watching non-terrestrial channels, with all terrestrial channels – except BBC2 – losing patronage (the number of people tuning into a channel for at least three minutes during the week).
ITV, Channel 4 and five are slightly down in audience share (1.3%, 0.5% and 0.1% respectively), whilst non-terrestrial channels grew 1.3%. Meanwhile, Sky’s share reached its highest level (7.2%).
The IPA says “it’s been another good year for TV”, given that viewing hours have remained stable.
Homes relying on analogue terrestrial signals are also now below 10% for the first time, and this will continue to fall as the Granada region switches over to digital next quarter.
Meanwhile, a report put this week from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) found that over one third of marketers are shifting TV ad spend to digital in line with increasing online video ad opportunities.
