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Free to air TV reaches 15.2m a day in 2013, while one in four stream shows online says Freeview survey

An estimated 15.2m people watched free TV per day across Australia last year, with the average person watching more than three hours of live television a day, a survey from Freeview suggests.

Time-shifted viewing also remained popular last year, as figures show 8.6 per cent of people recorded programs as well as watching live TV.

Freeview also picked up on the growing popularity of catch-up TV, with one in four people who have internet connections watching TV programs online.

Liz Ross, general manager of Freeview, said viewers are “more engaged than ever” with free television, adding: “Once again free to air has remained the television destination of choice for the overwhelming majority of Australians in 2013.

“This is thanks to the diversity and number of channels now available to all Australians, the high quality of content in general and the way Australians embrace locally made shows and the fantastic range of programs across all genres.

“It’s encouraging to see how Australian content is at the forefront of free to air programming. Every one of the 50 top rating programs last year was locally produced, with sport, reality and drama proving the most popular.”

Ross said one of the major developments in 2014 will be the launch of FreeviewPlus, the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) service which Freeview announced in November and will introduce later this year.

“We will soon be announcing more details about this significant milestone for TV in Australia,” she said.

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