More and more TV viewers are mentally switching off.
Significant increase in recent years

Germans are practicing a gentle television boycott: When the TV is on in German living rooms, fewer and fewer people are watching. For almost two-thirds of the population (63%), television has become a secondary activity. While watching television remains one of the most frequently cited leisure activities, only 37 percent of the population say they concentrate fully on the program. In 1991, this figure was still at 44 percent. This is according to representative surveys conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute, which interviewed 2,000 people aged 14 and over in West Germany about their television viewing habits in February 1991, 1992, and 1993.

The vast majority of TV viewers turn away from the screen and do other things: they read, eat, iron, do crafts, chat, or talk on the phone with friends. The result is alarming: "Television is evolving into background entertainment for families, a mixture of ambient noise and ironing," says Professor Dr. Horst W. Opaschowski, head of the BAT Institute. While the TV program is on, more and more family members in most households are engaged in their own personal activities – as if television didn't exist. And one in ten Germans admits to occasionally falling asleep in front of the television.

The TV downward spiral is looming

According to survey results from the BAT Institute, more gambling programs (1991: 10 – 1993: 17) and entertainment series (1991: 36 – 1993: 42) have been watched in recent years, while no comparable increases were recorded for news (1991: 82 – 1993: 74) and political magazines (1991: 19 – 1993: 12). Young people, in particular, are avoiding information. Using their remote controls, they are largely avoiding news broadcasts: Almost two-thirds of 14- to 29-year-olds (63) did not watch a single news program on a typical television evening in February of this year.

The downward spiral of television programming is looming: viewers tune in to programs that require little concentration. And such programs encourage distraction and other activities. As a result, instead of taking to the barricades in anger, viewers switch to even more superficial programming. Easily consumable entertainment triumphs over information. The consequence: television programs become increasingly similar because, in the pursuit of ratings, broadcasters copy and imitate each other. A decline in quality and a loss of program diversity can be the result.

Advertising and gambling programs "only in the background"„

The distraction caused by gambling programs is correspondingly high. When the shows begin, women start needlework or devote themselves particularly intensively to beauty treatments. Only about a quarter of viewers concentrate on the content of these programs; almost three-quarters (1991: 67 – 1993: 73) are content with the background noise. Professor Opaschowski: "Viewers appreciate game shows as welcome entertainment and simply as a way to pass the time.".

When commercials are on, as many as 80 percent of viewers are occupied with other things (1991: 77 %). Then the family turns to dinner or engages in conversation. No other program generates so much eating and talking.

TV hopping as a silent protest

The principle used to be "one thing at a time," but today it has become the habit of "doing more in the same amount of time." Leisure consumers can no longer stay focused on one thing for very long. This also affects television viewing habits. If a program becomes boring or tedious, the viewer simply switches channels. Americans call this "hopping.".

• Of all those surveyed who watched television yesterday, every second viewer (50 %) switched channels at least one to four times.
• One in nine viewers (11 %) „hops“ between programs an average of five to eight times a night.
• And roughly one in twelve viewers (8 %) switches channels at least nine times per evening, usually even more frequently. These channel-hopping enthusiasts never stay with any one channel for more than about 15 minutes on average. Men are twice as numerous among them (11 %) as women (5 %). And young people up to the age of 29 are four times more likely to do so (16 %) than retirees (4 %).

The remote control is a symbol of the new channel-hopping mania among TV consumers. Only 30 percent of viewers hardly ever use it. The spread of this channel-hopping mania in recent years reflects the hectic pace of modern life. It also suggests that program content and duration are lagging significantly behind the changing demands of consumers.