BARB has discovered that in general, people are watching more TV on a weekly basis than they might think. The audience measurement body recently surveyed its panel of 2,000 viewers and found that on average, they were viewing over 30 hours a week – despite claims that the amount was actually less than 20.

It was also revealed that around 9.5 million television sets were bought in 2010 - double the amount purchased in 2002. The group’s research also showed that the number of sets with screen sizes of 40 inches or larger sold in 2010 topped 2 million - compared with less than 600,000 in 2006.

MEC Opinion: We’re continuously seeing an increase in TV viewing year-on-year. Great news for advertisers, television has enjoyed 22 consecutive months of growth with commercial viewing in 2010 up 6.3% versus 2009.

With the digital switchover for the whole of the UK looming, giving more choice to viewers, DTRs being widely available and a large increase in the sales of big state-of-the-art TVs, there’s no reason why viewing won't increase in 2011 too.