SAD LOVE QUOTES: Blind Date to The X Factor: What's kept us glued to our TV screens over the past 30 years

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Blind Date to The X Factor: What's kept us glued to our TV screens over the past 30 years

Last updated at 10:00 PM on 23rd July 2011

The height of each bar represents the number of viewers. Soaps ruled the roost until recently, when 'talent' shows took over

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Key to what you've been watching

The average family watches a collective nine hours of television a day - but what are we watching?

Our streamgraph shows the five most popular shows each year since 1981. One programme towers above the rest when it comes to consistency - Coronation Street has been one of the most-watched shows for all but four years of the last 30.

The height of each bar represents the number of viewers. Soaps ruled the roost until recently, when 'talent' shows took over.

You can also see how audience figures for the Top 5 have decreased as the number of channels on air has grown: in 2005, viewing figures for the five most- watched programmes totalled 63.8 million, compared with 111 million in 1987.

The diversification of channels is probably also responsible for the under-representation of comedy, films and drama in the past decade.

Meanwhile, our support for England's attempts to win an international football trophy have wavered wildly - the World Cups in 1998 and 2006 were much more popular than Euro 2002, Euro 2000 and last year's World Cup in South Africa.

One thing's for sure - our support hasn't altered their chances of success...