Study confirms popularity of television in 2005

The study by the French research institute Médiamétrie and the German media consultancy Goldmedia "One Television Year in the World" for 2005 concludes that television is the undisputed most popular leisure medium. The two companies examined television viewing behavior in more than 70 nations. The average amount of time spent watching television worldwide last year was 184 minutes or more than three hours a day per TV consumer. The front-runner is the USA with 271 minutes per day. The Japanese also spend an average of 251 minutes a day in front of the screen, in stark contrast to the TV viewing behavior in the rest of Asia, where the average TV consumption is just 154 minutes a day. Latin Americans watch 196 minutes a day, while Europeans watch 195 minutes or 3:25 hours a day, the same amount of time as in the previous year. The most popular TV genre is fictional programs such as feature films, series and soap operas, which account for 44% of total programming. Series in particular were preferred at the expense of feature films. While series accounted for 50 percent of the most-watched fiction programs in 2004, their share rose to 64 percent in 2005. 38 percent of the top ten programs worldwide belong to the entertainment sector. In Europe, their share is as high as 64 percent. Special events such as the Eurovision Contest are also global audience magnets. As in the previous year, news programs, political programs and documentaries are among the most popular TV programs at 18% and are particularly popular in Europe.