Hugely popular online catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer and 4oD are not denting traditional TV, which actually increased its viewing figures over the first half of 2008.

Thinkbox, a TV marketing body, said that the impact that services such as the Sky Player, ITV.com and Demand Five "seems to be incremental".

Viewers in the UK watched an average of 3.77 hours of broadcast TV a day in the first half of the year, a two per cent increase on the five year average, according to Thinkbox.

The report said that both media are growing because they "fulfill different needs for viewers and that they can co-exist and indeed promote each other".

However, despite the success and popularity of catch-up players, they are failing to generate much revenue for broadcasters as advertisers favour TV over catch-up services.

The BBC recently revealed that 100 million programmes were watched on the iPlayer in the first six months after its official launch.

www.4oD.com
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
www.itv.com
www.demand.five.tv

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