Ofcom Annual Report 2011 - 2012

[Yorkie]

I get automatic e-mails from Ofcom, which is a hangover from when I was involved in re-drafting the terms conditions and limitations of the amateur radio licence back in 2005. I've just been advised that their 2012 Annual report is now out. No doubt few will find it an enthralling read, but it does provide some interesting insights. A couple of things stood out for me. Firstly, I was staggered to see that on average, viewers watch 242 minutes of TV per person day. Four hours sat in front of the box? I doubt we spend more than that per week - I find most of the stuff, including BBC news to be so facile and dumbed down that it's an insult to ones intelligence. Never watched any soaps, and even programmes that look promising (on history and so forth) almost always turn out to be 'docu-dramas' or 'mockumentaries' with re-enactments and unsubstantiated opinions dressed up as facts. Sport is all pervasive too and the fact that the likes of that miserable sour-faced Alec Ferguson and his monosyllabic cohort exist at all, let alone in my face on TV, is a source of considerable irritation whenever he pops up. Dire.

But that's just me, and clearly I don’t fit the profile of Mr Average – I've got a mobile in the glove box of the car, keep forgetting to charge it up, and rarely use it. I find it bizarre in supermarkets when couples are phoning each other from one aisle to the next to ask what to buy - "Im down aisle 1, fruit and veg - how are we for apples and oranges - shall I get six of each?"

I’ve never sent a text and if I receive any, I ignore them as it only encourages more of the same. The other thing that surprised me is that whereas I’d assumed that internet usage was inexorably on the increase, in fact usage has gone down slightly, to just 14 hours per month. That's just 28 minutes per day, barely a tenth of the time that is spent watching TV.

Phones: More adults now have a mobile phone than a landline, and more texts are sent than voice calls.

Post: Despite the widespread availability of internet and e-mail, and the fact that a second class letter now costs 60p, post volumes have barely reduced, (though that will include business mail, much of it 'junk mail').

Digital Radio take-up: Gone up slightly, but still only at 40% penetration, and few cars have DAB, which is where a lot of radio listening takes place.

Anyway, enough of my rambling and dribbling. For what it's worth here are a few facts from the report and the link to where the full report can be found:

Broadband internet:
75% of homes in 2010
76% of homes in 2011
Average broadband speeds
6.2Mbit/s in November/
December 2010
7.6Mbit/s in November 2011

Internet use:
15 hours per person
per month in 2010
14 hours per person
per month in 2011
Satisfaction with
broadband service
80% in 2010
81% in 2011

TV viewing:
242 minutes per person
per day in 2010
242 minutes per person
per day in 2011

Digital TV take-up:
93% of homes in 2010
94% of homes in 2011
Satisfaction with
DTV service
89% in 2010
90% in 2011

Radio:
Radio listening
20.1 hours per person
per week in 2010
20.4 hours per person
per week in 2011
Digital radio take-up
34% in 2010
40% in 2011

Mobile
Mobile take-up
91% of adults in 2010
91% of adults in 2011
Mobile use
125 billion minutes in 2010
124 billion minutes in 2011
Mobile use (texts)
128 billion messages in 2010
151 billion messages in 2011
Satisfaction
91% in 2010
92% in 2011

Landline telephone:
Take-up:
86% of homes in 2010
84% of homes in 2011
Use:
129 billion minutes in 2010
116 billion minutes in 2011
Satisfaction
88% in 2010
89% in 2011

Post:
Use (volumes):
16.0 billion items in 2010
15.2 billion items in 2011
Satisfaction with speed
of service
68% in 2011

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/files/2012/07/Of...t11-12.pdf