Recession makes Yorkshire a region of TV addicts

CONSUMERS would rather cut back on costly evenings out than reduce their spend on television, according to a report published by business advisory firm Deloitte.

Research behind the report ‘Television’s Got Talent’ found that 39% of consumers interviewed in Yorkshire would rather give up eating out, going to the cinema (31%) or the pub (28%) before cutting back on television spend.

Younger people are less willing to cut back on socialising with 35% of 18 to 24-year-olds considering eating out less before reducing their spend on television, compared with 48 per cent of 35 to 44-year-olds.

Mobile phones (19%), books (16%) and broadband (5%) fared better with fewer people opting to cut their spend on these items before television.

Of viewers polled in all the regions 45% said they were watching TV for more than an hour a day and as a result of the recession, were watching more documentaries/factual (19%) and news (18%), compared to reality TV (5%) and chat shows (3%).

Rob Seldon, head of Deloitte’s UK technology, media & telecommunications practice in Leeds said: “Consumers are tightening their belts and it is good news for the television industry that television is the entertainment of choice for the family.

“Television, mobiles, books and broadband are the essential items the consumer cannot live without, even when times are tight.”