British consumers demand TV freedom in 2008

London, 16 January 2007 – British television viewers are abandoning traditional television schedules in their droves, resulting in a boom for on-demand TV services. More than a third of British consumers (37%) are now regularly watching on demand content, twice as many as last year (17%), according to the annual Tiscali TV Trends report.

The Tiscali TV Trends Report 2008 reveals that 86% of those watching on-demand TV are watching at least as much, if not more TV than a year ago. With almost two thirds of British consumers (64%) saying traditional TV schedules restrict their viewing too much, it is clear that a lack of choice, frustration at the restrictions of rigid TV schedules and technical innovations in the more flexible delivery of television, are behind viewers turning off traditional channels and networks.

The main reasons given for abandoning the TV schedules are to catch up with what they’ve missed (58%), overcome schedule clashes (39%) and just to make their TV viewing more flexible (49%).

Read the report