Ireland has become a nation of TV bingers. That is according to a new survey on how we use technology in our homes.
The Eircom Household Sentiment Survey estimates 1.4 million people now watch back to back episodes of their favourite shows.
But the survey also found that over 90% of TV viewing is still "live" rather than on demand.
The survey of more than 1,100 Irish people revealed the shift to watching live and "catch up" TV on portable devices is happening amongst younger consumers, with half of all 16-34 year olds watching live or "catch up" TV on portable devices, shunning the traditional TV set.
The survey also revealed some interesting national TV traits and behaviours - with some regional variations.
Dubliners are by far the biggest TV bingers, with 51% guilty of the habit versus 36% of respondents outside the capital.
This 'bingeing' is facilitated by a number of different services - the most popular of which is catch up players at 37%, followed closely by Netflix at 33% and pre-recorded programmes at 31%.
Internet downloads (27%) and rented DVDs (19%) also feature, albeit further down the list.
A large proportion of us believe there are some programmes that have to be watched live - including the news at 61%, followed by sports at 51% and the weather at 42%.
While a quarter of the people surveyed have downloaded a movie or series to watch on a portable device, most of these (86%) were actually watched at home.
A breakdown of the findings | Source: Eircom
The study also unveiled some insights into Irish people's attitudes to the evolution of technology in the home.
It found that two out of three people believe technological advances will enhance our lives in the future. More than half of us (53%) say that life would be better with a robot to help with household chores, while two of three (68%) people would be keen to run household appliances remotely (i.e. start the washing machine, turn on the oven) when out of the house.
One in three of us would like to use a driverless car - powered by GPS and satellite feeds - with 44% saying it would make life better, contrasting with the 30% who believe it would make life worse.
When it comes to caring for loved ones, however, the response was more cautious - with over half (53%) believing that using a robot to be the primary carer for the sick or elderly would represent a change for the worse - and only 18% saying that they would actually use that technology for that role, if and when it becomes available.
Lisa Comerford is consumer marketing director of Eircom. She says there was a limit to how much people trust hi-tech gadgets.
