Study finds that gamers are watching less and less TV

A new study into the habits of gamers has found that a quarter of gamers watched less television less year and 18% say they will watch less this year. The study has found links between gamers wanting to play more games and therefore having or wanting to watch less TV in order to make room in the day. As well as these figures, the study shows an 11% increase in console sales over last year, likely attributed to the release of Nintendo DS and Sony PSP consoles. Look to see a massive boost of these figures next year, as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo bring out their next-gen consoles.

Back to the topic at hand; Gaming taking over TV. My personal experience is at the extreme end of the gaming spectrum. I rarely find the time to watch TV, with my LCD TV (capable of 1280x1024) being used primarily for my PC, Mac and Xbox rather than as it was intended, as a TV. The main reasons for this are; a) I write about games and need to spend more time playing/reading/writing about them, b) I find having to wait for the programmes I want annoying. Until TV is truly available on demand or via the net, I have little reason to watch TV. My news and entertainment needs are met by the internet and DVD rentals or purchases. In my opinion it's time for TV networks to wise up and embrace web publishing. We're already seeing the seeds of this in the UK, with the BBC and Channel 4 planning on releasing programmes for online download by the end of this year.

Here at Joystiq we're all about audience participation so make sure to hit the comments thread and discuss how your TV and gaming times relate.

[Thanks, mike street]