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Scots are top viewers in the whole of UK

SCOTS spend more time watching TV than any other UK residents, according to a report published today.

The study by television watchdog Ofcom found viewers in Scotland spent a daily average of 3 hours 46 minutes watching broadcast TV last year – 24 minutes more than the UK average of 3 hours 23 minutes.

Yet despite spending the most time watching TV favourites such as Strictly Come Dancing and Blue Planet, Scots spent nine minutes less watching the box than in 2016 and 46 minutes less than in 2010.

The findings are part of Ofcom’s Media Nations: Scotland 2018 report, a comprehensive study of trends in the television, radio and audio sectors.

Although viewers north of the Border watch less broadcast television, they now spend an increasing number of hours watching other things on their TV sets.

Glenn Preston, Ofcom’s Scotland director, said: ‘Today’s research shows that the way people in Scotland watch TV is changing rapidly.

‘Although viewers in Scotland watch more TV than in the rest of the UK, they are spending less time watching “traditional” broadcast TV and are turning to online streaming services, attracted by their exclusive programmes and vast libraries of classic shows. Broadcasters in Scotland must confront the challenges posed by both online streaming companies and the changing way people are watching television, to ensure they continue to make great shows to appeal to Scottish viewers.’

The BBC, STV and ITV spent a combined £53.9million on firstrun, UK-made programmes for viewers in Scotland, an 8 per cent real-terms decrease year-on-year. The BBC reduced its annual programming spend by 10 per cent, while STV and ITV’s spend remained broadly stable.

The report also examined trends in the radio and audio sectors and found the amount of time people spent listening to digital radio has continued to grow, reaching 47 per cent of all listening hours by the start of 2018, up from 30 per cent in 2013.

In Scotland, where 88 per cent of adults listen to the radio every week, 66 per cent owned a DAB radio at the start of 2018, above the UK average of 64 per cent.

On average, adults north of the Border spent 14 hours four minutes each week listening to audio, 71 per cent of which was live radio, the report found.

The Ofcom report also charts ‘the decreasing popularity’ of soap operas. In 2007, EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale averaged 8.7million viewers between them, but by 2017 this had fallen to 6.9 million.