Family viewing isn’t dead – but it is very different

THE concept of family viewing is alive and well – except each member of the family is watching a different programme on a separate screen.

A survey has found that one third of people say members of their household sit together as a family in the same room to watch their favourite shows. But while parents watch television, one child might be streaming a show on a laptop and another may have headphones plugged into their mobile phone.

The transformation of family viewing is detailed in Ofcom’s annual report, which also called the country “box-set Britain”, with people able to “bingewatch” series via catch-up services.

Four fifths of those surveyed said they watched back-to-back episodes of a series, with one third admitting they do so even though it means staying up late and feeling tired. For younger viewers, binge-watching is driven by the fear of seeing “spoilers” on social media.