November 11th, 2020, YouGov
The group is more likely to watch more TV than the population as a whole
One in five people (19%) say they have a high propensity to watch TV while eating their breakfast. This is especially common among older people, with the habit being shared by about half (53%) of those aged 55 and older, compared with around two in five (38%) of the population as a whole.
A third (32%) of breakfast TV viewers spend more than 20 hours on watching live TV per week – or at least three hours a day. This compares with a national average of 19%.
BBC One is the most popular channel with this segment, with three quarters (77%) tuning in at least once a week. That’s a much higher proportion than in the general public (59%). ITV comes second (63%) and Channel 4 third (46%).
People who watch TV while having breakfast are more likely that others have used BBC iPlayer in the past 30 days (52% vs 44% of the general public), but they’re less likely than the population as a whole to watch either Netflix (41% vs 45%) or Amazon Prime Video (22% vs 27%).
Breakfast TV watchers’ viewing habits seem to influence how they consume news in general too. Compared to the average person, they’re significantly more likely to keep up-to-date by watching TV (75% vs 61%), listening to the radio (52% vs 42%) and reading newspapers (40% vs 34%).
By contrast, they’re less likely to use newspapers’ websites (30 vs 39%) or a news app (21% vs 32%).
