The rise of the iPlayer won't necessarily damage TV viewing figures, according to new analysis.
TV viewing has not been noticeably impacted by the launch of broadband services such as the BBC's iPlayer.
The "catch up" broadband TV programmes had been expected by some analysts to severely dent traditional viewing figures; however, a report from marketers Thinkbox suggests today that this is not the case. Moreover, an industry expert also said that commercial operations such as Channel 4 and Sky - which launched 4oD and the Sky Player recently - are finding it hard to make money from the broadband services.
Figures from the report show that, on average, TV viewers watched an average of 3.77 hours per day of broadcast content from traditional sets. This represents a two percent increase over the five-year norm.
Commenting on the figures to the Guardian newspaper, analyst Vincent Letang at Screen Digest said: "These [online] services are not cannibalising traditional TV viewing."
He added: "First of all, in terms of the amount of money spent by advertisers, it is so small that it doesn't divert from broadcast TV money. The other reason is that in terms of the time spent using online TV services, it is actually very small."
Thinkbox was assisted in its research by ratings body Barb.
