DC14-641                                                                       December 17, 2014

Holiday Leftovers: Half of Brits use holiday to watch TV

• Two in five intentionally booked time off work to catch up on TV
• 1.5 days off work were used this year for a TV marathon
• Breaking Bad is the most popular series that Brits will watch this month

Days off from work are usually used to get away for a break, but research by BT TV reveals that almost half of Brits (48 per cent) have used their holiday days to enjoy TV. Two in five (42 per cent) telly fans claimed they intentionally booked annual leave for the purpose of watching TV.

The average person this year has used a day and a half of their holiday to curl up on the sofa and enjoy their favourite shows and over a fifth (22 per cent) of those has used their days to watch a TV series marathon. One in five people (21 per cent), who were falling behind on their favourite show felt that using their holiday days was the only way they could catch up.
With the end of the year fast approaching and holiday time needing to be booked, 16 per cent of TV fans intend to take time off in the run up to Christmas to catch up on their favourite shows.

According to the BT TV research, the top 10 shows that Brits will be watching in the run up to Christmas are:
1. Breaking Bad
2. Orange is the New Black
3. House of Cards
4. White Collar
5. House
6. Sherlock
7. The Inbetweeners
8. The Killing
9. Doctor Who
10. The Originals

Kate Dean, Director of content, BT TV says: "Our busy lifestyles often make it hard to keep up to date with our favourite shows, meaning people can easily fall behind and feel out of the loop with telly chatter with family, friends and colleagues. With so many good shows available, people often have a 'must see' list that they can't find the time to get round to watching. With the ability to record or stream programmes, Brits can watch these shows at a time that is convenient to them. With Netflix now included in our BT TV package there are vast amounts of shows customers can enjoy."

BT TV's newest offer includes BT TV, YouView, BT Sport and Netflix. For the first time, BT TV customers can sign up for Netflix alongside BT's other products and services, with the added convenience of paying for them all in just one bill, directly through BT. The new BT TV package is £5.99 a month, and new customers will also receive six months free BT Infinity Broadband*.

BT TV Starter features up to 70 TV and radio channels (including Freeview HD) live pause, rewind and seven-day scroll back catch up, as well as on-demand services - such as BBC iPlayer and 4oD. BT Sport will be broadcasting 38 exclusive live Barclays Premier League matches this season, with 69 Aviva Premiership Rugby games and much more.

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Notes to editors
A survey of 2,000 Britons who watch TV was conducted by Onepoll on behalf of BT in November 2014.

* The £5.99 package is based on BT Infinity being offered for free for the first six months along with the BT TV Starter Pack. Netflix is available starting from £5.99 per month and is separately cancelable on a monthly basis. After six months the price of BT Infinity Broadband is £15 a month. Line rental is not included in the offer and is £16.99 a month.

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