Majority of Brits lose film and TV plots because they were distracted by their phones

Did you really watch the latest Love Island live on ITV2 if you didn’t tweet about it during the episode? Was your WhatsApp group chat blowing up when Nicole Kidman slapped Meryl Streep in Big Little Lies or when Arya stabbed the Night King in Game of Thrones’ final season?

In this day and age, “second screening” is more popular than ever as television addicts and film buffs look to apps on their phone to discuss whatever it is that they’re watching in their downtime.

But according to a recent study conducted by by RadioTimes.com, 74% of British people completely “miss what was happening in a TV show or film because they were looking at their phone.”

The survey - which quizzed 12,500 individuals on their viewing habits - also revealed that those living in England, Scotland and Wales are more likely to get sidetracked using their mobiles than people in Australia (68%), Canada and the US (66%).

Particularly when it comes to TV, it’s not difficult to see how viewers have become so reliant on being on their mobiles while their favourite show is on. Many series these days actively push online discussion - through hashtags etc - as a means of free, widespread publicity.

There’s also the fact that the majority of television consumed these days is via some sort of streaming platform, so the rewind button is always at hand for you to go back and revisit an important scene.

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As less and less people look to the cinema to watch movies, phone usage while checking out a film at home seems much more likely too.

In December 2018, media analysts Ampere released a report that claimed that money made from streaming services is likely to surpass that made on big screen ticket sales in 2019.