Which country watches the most TV in the world?

The average person in the United States watches almost five hours of television a day, more than an hour greater than the average of people in the world's biggest economies, new research says.

2015's International Communications Market report, an annual survey by the UK's telecoms regulator Ofcom, said the average American watches 282 minutes of broadcast television a day - or four hours and 42 minutes.

In comparison, the average Brit watches three hours and 40 minutes of TV - one minute below the average.

However, the figures include only live television and recorded programmes, not catch-up television or recorded media - which Ofcom said the UK leads the world in.

The UK saw the greatest decline in linear TV viewing last year, down 4.9 per cent, but Ofcom said the UK appears to be "the most technologically-advanced of European nations".

81 per cent of Brits have used an online service to watch TV or films, such as Netflix or BBC iPlayer, in the last month, while 16 per cent have watched catch-up TV on a tablet. Both were ahead of any other country in the group of the world's biggest economies.

42 per cent of UK households own a TV connected to the internet, more than any country except Spain.
In comparison, the US's broadcast TV viewing per day declined by 3.8 per cent last year, and France's declined by 2.2 per cent.

Of the 15 countries included in the survey, Sweden, China, Korea, the Netherlands and Australia watch less linear TV a day, compared to the UK.
 
 

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