8:30am revealed as the new prime time TV slot as commuter-carriages are becoming our living rooms

• Doctor Who is named the most watched BBC TV show on the move
• Light hearted British humour is the most watched genre
• O2 customers get access to a range of free BBC Store content to download with top shows including Doctor Who, Call the Midwife and Gavin & Stacey available

8:30am marks the spot as the new prime time TV slot, as research from O2 reveals Brits want to escape to their favourite TV shows before they hit the reality of their desks. Swapping sofas for train carriages, a third watch TV on their commute at least once a week and 47% of us watching TV on a tablet or mobile regularly.

Light-hearted, witty British humour tops commuters’ choice of TV viewing on the move, with 51% claiming it’s their favourite genre. Doctor Who has been named the most popular BBC show as Brits try to distract themselves from the chaos of rush hour. Other shows making up the top five are The Office, Planet Earth, Only Fools and Horses and Little Britain.

The findings come as O2 announces customers can now watch even more top TV and movie content through their phone for free thanks to new partnerships with BBC Store, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Google Play. O2 customers will be able to access the full range of content through Priority, the UK’s largest digital loyalty scheme.

Going against our stereotype as shy and easily embarrassed, the research revealed that sex on our screens doesn’t leave British commuters red-faced as 78% aren’t fazed by watching steamy scenes on the move.

Further figures reveal how half of Brits now watch more downloaded and on-demand TV than live, confirming how habits continue to change in the connected TV age.

Brits are commuting on average one hour and 12 minutes every day, 27 minutes longer than in 2003*, as people are having to move further away from work due to property value increases. However, research from O2 has revealed that commuters are often happy to spend the extra time on their commute as it’s a time when they can control what they want to watch without partners and kids taking the remote.

“With so many of our customers watching TV and movies on the go, we’re delighted to be giving them even more to see,” said Nina Bibby, O2’s Marketing and Consumer Director. “Priority is all about connecting customers to the things they love and with hours and hours of free content available, we think they’ll definitely find something they want to see every time.”

Each week, the first episode of three iconic BBC shows will be available for customers to download and keep for free from BBC Store. Shows on offer over the next two months include all five top commuter shows, smash hit comedies I’m Alan Partridge and The League of Gentlemen, while those looking for dramas will be well served thanks to Orphan Black, Poldark and Call the Midwife. Ground breaking nature shows including Blue Planet are also available, ensuring those looking to hear the dulcet tones of David Attenborough can get their fix for free.

Sara Holt, VP, Marketing, BBC Store said, “BBC Store is the largest collection of BBC content that has ever existed available to download, buy and keep. We are delighted to be giving the O2 customers some of the best of the BBC as a free download to take with them on the go.”

Meanwhile, customers who have movies on their mind will be able to download one of a range of movies from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment each week. Films appearing over the next few weeks include Spy, Romeo + Juliet and Unstoppable.

These new partnerships join O2’s existing content partnership with Channel 4 which gives customers access to some of their most popular shows on demand 48 hours before they’re broadcast on TV.

Priority is available to all O2 customers and is the UK’s largest digital loyalty programme. Available as a free download, it hosts thousands of deals from a huge range of high street and online retailers and is updated daily with new deals, discounts and competitions.

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Notes to editors

*Taken from 2014 research from the Office of National Statistics.

O2 research was carried out by One Poll, polling 2,000 commuters from across the UK.

O2 Press Office contacts
t +44 (0)1753 565656
e: pressoffice@o2.com

About O2
O2 is the commercial brand of Telefónica UK Limited and is a leading digital communications company with the highest customer satisfaction for any mobile provider according to Ofcom. With over 25 million customers, O2 runs 2G, 3G and 4G networks across the UK, as well as operating O2 Wifi and owning half of Tesco Mobile. O2 has over 450 retail stores and sponsors The O2, O2 Academy venues and the England rugby team. Read more about O2 at www.o2.co.uk/news.

Telefónica UK Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registration number: 1743099.
Its registered office is at: 260 Bath Road, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 4DX, United Kingdom.

About BBC Store
BBC Store is the new digital service from the BBC which makes it really easy for audiences to buy and keep copies of their favourite BBC programmes. Purchases can be viewed on bbcstore.com or via the BBC iPlayer or downloaded to a laptop to watch offline. BBC Store features new programmes, television favourites and gems from the BBC television archive. It is already the largest collection of BBC programmes ever available and continues to grow as new titles are added every week.

BBC Store is operated by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC on behalf of the BBC Public Service.