Online TV viewing slows on PCs, but grows on smartphones

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Growth in popularity of smartphones fuels rise in mobile TV viewing, but online watching on PCs levels off

Laptop TV

The growth in TV watching on PCs, laptops or tablets is slowing, but the number of us watching telly on our smartphones has almost doubled.

That's according to the latest figures from industry measurement body Barb, which carried out a study of 11,500 viewers over a week in November 2011.

Almost 15% of respondents to the Barb study said they watched TV online – a rise of only 0.5% compared to November 2010.

But viewing on smartphones continued to rise, with around 3% of those questioned saying they had watched TV on their mobile phone, up from 1.9% in November 2010 and 1.1% in November 2009.

Barb says the "plateau" in online viewing via PCs could be attributed to the rise in digital set-top boxes and the boom in popularity of catch-up services on internet connected TVs, such as Sky+ and Virgin TV On Demand.

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Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.