TV viewers are watching more recorded programmes

by Media Week, Media Week 16-Sep-08

The percentage of adults in Britain who record a TV programme but then fail to watch it has fallen significantly over the past five years, according to research from BMRB's TGI survey.

The number of people now able to catch their recorded shows has risen from 46% in 2003 to 58% today; the trend suggests the proliferation of TV channels and time-lag systems such as Channel 4+1, coupled with the rise of PVR systems such as Sky+, are making missing a programme a thing of the past. The rise of Freeview also means terrestrial viewers who have missed prime-time content on BBC1 or ITV1 now often have the chance to see it repeated on a sister channel.

In addition, falling prices of DVDs together with the availability of free downloads and services such as the BBC iPlayer, have all made it easy to access popular programmes without touching a remote control.