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UK viewers watch more than 4 hours of TV everyday

London, Jan 24 : The average TV viewer in UK spent four hours and two minutes daily in 2011 watching television, according to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB).

The figures say that nine-tenths of television is watched when it is broadcast despite the rise of on-demand services and new technology.

90.6 per cent of the TV watched in the UK during 2011 was watched live and 9.4 per cent was watched on time-shifted viewing, which includes technology such as the BBC iPlayer or Sky+, up from 7.6 per cent in 2010.

"These figures explain why so many tech companies want to join the TV industry. Many companies are flocking to launch new TV services or social media services that feed off people's love affair with TV," the Telegraph quoted Lindsey Clay from Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, as saying.

"It is obvious that people want to watch TV programmes on the best screen in the home if they can and 2012 will bring more opportunities to do that with the sale of connected TVs and more catch-up TV services to the TV set.

"And alongside that there is now a wide variety of personal screens to watch TV on which make TV even more convenient. Tablets are really delivering an excellent mobile TV experience," she said.

The BBC iPlayer recorded its highest ever number of programme requests, with 187 million registered in December across smartphones, Internet connected TVs and tablets.

The total number of requests for content on the BBC iPlayer during last month marked a 29 per cent increase on the year.

'Sherlock' was the most-watched show with 623,000 hits - the most for any one programme in a single day.

Top Gear's controversial India special was the most popular programme on the BBC iPlayer over the festive break - having been viewed 1.7 million times. (ANI)