Home | Press | Publications | What We Do | Who We Are | Search | Site Map | Contacts | Links
Scottish Social Statistics

Scottish Social Statistics Home Population Housing Education Labour Market Income, Wealth and Expenditure Health and Care Crime and Justice Transport Environment Attitudes, Social Participation and Lifestyles Appendices

< Previous | Contents | Next >

2001 Scottish Social Statistics

Entertainment and the media

Almost all households now have televisions and television viewing is a very popular pastime. Table 10.12 shows that 85 per cent of Scottish households now have a video and 26 percent have a satellite dish. Research by the British Audience Research Board (BARB) has shown that in 1969, the average number of television sets per TV household was 1.0 and this had increased to 1.8 by 1998. There were 24.3 million televisions in the UK in December 2000 (BARB), almost one for every two people.

The Independent Television Commission's (ITC) quarterly cable statistics show that the number of homes with cable TV is rising. Just over a quarter of UK homes to which a cable service had been marketed and was available, had cable television by October 2000 (ITC 2000). The proportion who take any cable service (cable TV, cable telephony or high speed internet access), was even higher, at 39 per cent of people in the UK in October 2000 (ITC 2000). In April 2000, the proportion of homes that took cable TV in Scottish areas where a cable service had been marketed and was available, (most of Scotland outwith the central belt is not cabled), was higher in each area, than the average UK cable TV take up rate, except in Dundee and Aberdeen.

Adult television viewing in Scotland was the highest of all viewing regions in the UK in 1999, with people in Scotland watching at least two hours more TV per week than the UK average. Average weekly viewing of television in Scotland was 26.2 hours per week for males, and 29.5 hours per week for females (Table 10.14). This gives an average of 3.7 and 4.2 hours of TV viewing per day for males and females respectively. Since many people work or study during the daytime, these viewing figures suggest that many people spend all evenings with the TV on.

Those aged 65 and over watch twice as much TV as 16-24 year olds. Older people spend more time watching TV than other age groups, possibly because they have more opportunity to, since they are less likely to be working, looking after children or studying. Those in lower social classes tend to watch more television (Table 10.14).

Table 10.14: Television viewing and radio listening by gender, age and social class, BBC Scotland Region 1999

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation
Note: 1. For radio listening the age categories are 4-14 and 15-24.

Evidence from BARB suggests that people watch more television in winter than summer. For the UK, in July 2000 people watched an average of 23.5 hours of television per week, compared to 28.0 hours of television in January 2000.

Despite the amount of time spent watching TV in Scotland, listening to the radio is still very popular. The fact that one can listen to the radio while doing other things such as housework, driving and getting ready in the morning may have contributed the continuing popularity of radio. In 1999, men spent an average of 19.0 hours and women an average of 16.1 hours per week, listening to the radio (Table 10.14).

Table 10.15 illustrates the changes in the viewing shares of different channels over the past twenty years in the UK. The increase in the number of channels available has affected the viewing shares of the mainstream channels (BBC1 and ITV) more than BBC2 and C4. For example ITV's viewing share decreased by eighteen percentage points between 1981 and 1999, compared to a one percentage point decrease for BBC2. This is probably because BBC2 and C4 cater for more specialised audiences than the mainstream channels, and are therefore less likely to lose their audience to other more generalist channels such as C5 and the cable and satellite networks.

Broadcasters' Audience Research Board figures show that the most popular TV channel in December 2000 was ITV which accounted for 29 per cent of viewing time in Scotland. Nearly one fifth of viewing time was accounted for by satellite and cable television, reflecting the increased choice in this area of the television market.

Soaps are the most popular type of television programme. Research by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board for the week ending 31st December 2000, showed that the top thirteen television programmes with the highest viewing figures in the UK were all soaps. Eastenders regularly attracts the largest viewing audiences and during the Christmas week 2000, one in three people in the UK watched a particular Eastenders episode.

Table 10.15: Television viewing (of individuals), by television channel, UK 1981 to 1999

Source: Broadcasters' Audience Research Board
Note: Includes RTE Ulster

Chart 10.16 shows the most common radio stations listened to in the UK. The BBC accounted for 51 per cent of all hours listened to the radio, with Radio 2 the most popular BBC station. Local commercial radio stations are much more popular than national commercial stations. In many areas in Scotland, the local commercial radio station for the area accounts for over a third of all radio listening. Radio stations attracting over a third of the radio listening hours in their marketing area include Radio Clyde 1 & 2, Tay FM & AM, Northsound 1 & 2 and Radio Borders. National Scottish commercial radio stations such as SCOT FM and Beat 106 attract less than 10 per cent of radio listening hours for their defined area.

Chart 10.16: Radio listening⁽¹⁾ by adults⁽²⁾, by radio channel, UK, June-September 2000

Source: Radio Joint Audience Research Limited
Note: 1. The percentage listening to a particular station is calculated from total hours listened to the station compared to hours listened to all stations.
2. Adults aged 15 and over.

Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 1999 results show that 76 per cent of adults read a daily newspaper at least three times a week. The most widely read newspapers in Scotland are regional papers or Scottish versions of British papers. 40 per cent of adults living in Scotland read the Daily Record, making it the most popular daily newspaper in Scotland (Table 10.17). The Sunday Mail is the most popular Sunday paper with 44 per cent of the adult population reading it. Readership figures for any given newspaper are generally three times higher than the circulation figures, since more people read papers than buy them or have them delivered.

Table 10.17: Newspaper readership of the fourteen most popular newspapers in Scotland, October 1999-September 2000

Source: National Readership Surveys Ltd
Note: 1. This survey estimates the potential readership figures of a newspaper so does not measure the number of people that actually bought or were delivered a paper, but estimates the proportion of people that read a copy.
2. Respondents are shown a prompt card and asked if they read the paper "yesterday" or "last week", depending on whether it is a Sunday or a daily paper.

Newspaper readership can give an indication of the views of a country, since it is a major way that people are informed about local and national affairs and can influence political views and voting patterns. The Royal Commission on the Press is concerned that the press should show truthfulness and diversity and avoid sensationalism, so that readers are well-informed about the issues of the day.

Free newspapers are becoming more widely available. Most major towns and cities have their own free advertising paper, but recently a free newspaper called Metro has started being distributed to morning commuters in the major cities in Europe, now including Edinburgh and Glasgow. The idea started off in Sweden where the paper achieved a circulation of 240,000 a day. Since then it has spread to other European cities and has become the major morning newspaper in Prague and Budapest. When Metro was first distributed in the central belt of Scotland in Winter 1999, 100,000 copies were circulated.

There are a wide range of magazine titles available now. The most popular magazine in Scotland is Sky/Sky View TV (the Sky TV Guide), which 13 per cent of adults read (Table 10.18). This is a free TV Guide that households which subscribe to Sky TV, automatically receive. Magazines which are free to subscribers are among the most widely read in Scotland, and include Cable Guide, M&S magazine, and the AA members' magazine (Table 10.18).

Almost a quarter of 15-24 years olds read FHM which makes it the most popular magazine for this age group. Readers Digest is more popular among older than younger people. Of the 11 most popular magazines, almost half are TV guides illustrating the popularity of TV watching as a pastime.

Table 10.18: Reading of popular consumer magazines in Scotland, October 1999-September 2000

Source: National Readership Surveys Ltd
Note: 1. This survey estimates the potential readership figures of a magazine so does not measure the number of people that actually bought or were delivered a magazine, but estimates the proportion of people that read a copy.
2. Respondents are shown a prompt card and asked if they read the magazine "last week" or "last month", depending on whether it is a weekly or monthly.

Information from the Chart Information Network (Copyright) shows that the best selling single in Scotland in 2000 was "Can we fix it" by "Bob the Builder", followed by "Pure Shores" (All Saints) and then "Rock DJ" (Robbie Williams).

Recently cinema attendance has seen some resurgence in popularity in the UK after nearly 40 years of decline (Chart 10.19). Cinema admissions declined sharply from 1.4 billion in 1951 to reach a low of 53 million in 1984. This fall was probably influenced by increased use of televisions, and later of video recorders. Over the next decade however, cinema admissions rose and were 128 million in 1999. This revival may be related to the investment and expansion in multiplex cinemas in recent years.

Chart 10.19: UK Cinema admissions: 1951 to 1999⁽¹⁾

Source: Office for National Statistics
Note: 1. Data collection was suspended in 1985 and 1986

Toy Story 2 was the top UK box office film of 2000, taking £43m. This was followed by Gladiator (£28m) and Chicken Run (£26m).

< Previous | Contents | Next >

The information contained on this WWW site is Crown Copyright but may be reproduced without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use. Privacy and Content Disclaimer.

For general enquiries about this web site email ceu@scotland.gov.uk or fill out our online questionnaire.