UK viewers watching multiple programmes at once, says survey

UK viewers are increasingly watching more than one TV programme at a time, according to research carried out by YouGov for TV Licensing, the body charged with collecting licence fee funds for the BBC. 

The research found that 18% of men and 11% of women polled have watched two live TV programmes simultaneously within the past year while 3% of respondents said they had watched three programmes at the same time, despite the widespread availability of digital recording devices and catch-up TV. The proportion rose among 18-24 year-olds, 6% of whom have watched three live TV programmes at the same time across multiple devices at least once in the past year.

According to TV Licensing, sport is the main driver of what it had dubbed ‘programme packing’, with over a third of UK men and women – 38% – responders to its survey watching live sport on their TV, while also watching live TV on a second device. Meanwhile, 50% said they view sport on a second device such as a laptop, phone or tablet, whilst watching something else on their TV.