Flicking through the endless list of TV channels available is wasting us an average of a week of every year, a report has found.

The Microsoft-commissioned research discovered that even though many of us spend more than 25 per cent of our TV-watching time channel hopping we still miss the programmes that we want to watch.

Dr David Lewis, director of Neuroscience at Mindlab International, said: "Today, there is more choice than ever before in terms of TV channels and available programmes, which results in people being overwhelmed by this so called 'entertainment overload'.

Microsoft suggested that the best way to deal with the glut of programming available to us was to adopt techniques that we use on the web - namely search.

"We need to change our behaviour and take advantage of new tools, such as search. We've learned how to cope with 'information overload' in an online world and so there is no reason why those same coping strategies cannot be transferred to TV," Dr Lewis said.

Microsoft found that 56 per cent of digital viewers surveyed said that keyword searches would improve their viewing experience.

The company's Mediaroom IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) technology, which BT Vision uses, offers viewers a search facility where you can search by programme title or an actor's name.

www.microsoftmediaroom.com

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