Watching champions

Press, 14 January 1986, Page 22

Watching champions

Which nation watches more television and video cassettes than any other? The answer may come as a surprise to some who might consider the Japanese (as leading producers of the hardware in both fields) to be the most ardent watchers. Truth is, latest figures available show that the British are the world’s largest consumers.

At the end of October Ist, 96 per cent of all British households contained a television set and 92 per cent had colour. An estimated 60 per cent of households now have at least two sets and industry sources point to the popularity of home computers as the reason.

Although penetration figures for VCRs lag behind Australia and Japan, the British short term rental

figures for video hardware bleed the world. Sales of VCRs also remained fairly constant throughout the last year in Britain, contrary to the highs and lows experienced elsewhere.

Tradition, weather, and the quality of British tele vision production and broadcasting are all given as reasons for the popularity of the medium, but it is interesting to note that other forms of live and recorded entertainment are still popular. Theatre, cinema, sporting fixtures, clubs, cabarets, recitals, and reading libraries are still well supported.

As one American entertainer expressed it recently, the British have developed the art of having their cake and eating it too to a very fine degree