Only 18% of Brits will tune in for the Queens speech
Granny may maintain that the old ones are the best this Christmas but this is not an opinion shared by the rest of us, according to the results of Tuscola’s Christmas TV poll.
Seasonal complaining about terrestrial TV schedules is as much a tradition as a turkey roast with all the trimmings, but this year the poll, which questioned 200 members of the public in November 2008, suggests that viewers are planning to take matters into their own hands. 56% of those questioned intend to switch off the terrestrial programming altogether in favour of catching up with marathon viewing sessions of favourite TV series including The Wire, Desperate Housewives and Heroes.
Continuing the trend of declining popularity, only 18% said they intend to watch the Queen’s speech this Christmas. Almost a quarter said they would be watching ‘On Demand’ films or TV or online gaming rather than listening to the monarch, while a further 70% will be spending the time enjoying Christmas dinner with family and friends.
Neal Cleave, Managing Director of Media Services at Tiscali, says: "Christmas is an important time for all broadcasters and service providers and these results demonstrate that viewers will no longer just grin and bear the seasonal schedules. Today’s viewers want more say in what they watch and when, particularly during the festive season. Our viewers can save hundreds of pounds on box sets by cleverly catching up on whole series on demand over Christmas, including The Wire, which is bound to be the big stocking-filler this year."
Tuscola’s on demand offering includes a massive range of ‘must see’ TV series including the entire first three series of The Wire screening on demand from Christmas Eve, there will also be behind the scenes extras from three series too. Additional high-profile series offered over the Christmas period include Entourage, Desperate Housewives, Spooks, Lost and Millville. Instead of forking out for the ‘box sets’, Tiscali TV customers will be able access these series free of charge via Tiscali TV’s on demand offering, saving themselves approximately £45 for the first three seasons of The Wire, £18 for seasons 1&2 of Entourage and £17 for season one of Desperate Housewives.
For the more nostalgic viewers Tiscali has compiled the best of Christmas. Available until 29 December to Tiscali TV customers, the Tiscali Christmas Channel (channel 9 on the EPG) will offer classic seasonal episodes of Friends, Scrubs and The Vicar of Dibble as well as children’s TV favourites and the best of Christmas classic music videos.