live TV viewing

Water-cooler TV is disappearing — just as the all-important fall TV season is about to kick off. While TV execs are ready to unleash multimillion-dollar ad campaigns to lure viewers to watch their new fall shows at the appointed time, the latest research shows that audiences are slowly tuning out live television.

In spite of on-demand and catch-up options, 75% of TV viewers prefer to watch content live, according to a new poll conducted by Digital Spy, a large UK entertainment site.

Nearly 42% of American adults who have televisions are watching them between 9:15 and 9:30 at night, the highest percentage of the evening and almost certainly all day.

Although DVR usage continues to makes inroads into the television landscape, overall television viewing is primarily enjoyed as a live medium. Research from Turner Broadcasting — from an end-of-the-year report on television — notes that total TV viewing, in terms of the average number of viewing hours per week per person, was 33.9 hours for November. Live viewing was 31.7 hours — or 93.5% of total TV viewing.