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A new report conducted by media management specialist Red Bee Media has found that UK viewers are frustrated by a lack of accessibility to content and are hungry for change to the traditional TV status quo.

The survey's key findings include the revelation that an overwhelming three-quarters (74%) of respondents claim that they cannot find anything to watch on live TV on a weekly basis, as a result of the confusion caused by the proliferation of content, platforms and devices. Just over 70% of those polled expressed an interest in the ability to watch what they want, when they want.

Meanwhile, 45% of respondents want access to all back episodes of their favourite programmes; 39% want catch-up content to be available for longer (such as six months); 34% are interested in having multi-room wireless access to content on any screen (rising to 42% among 16-24 year-olds); 33% want the whole live TV schedule to be available on catch-up; and more than a fifth (21%) are "frustrated" when they cannot access a UK programme while abroad.

Whilst the report demonstrates a clear appetite for even greater catch-up services, there is also an element of wishful thinking to some of the findings: more than half of UK consumers apparently think that content should be released at the same time all over the world (57% for films and 56% for TV shows), which is highly unlikely to be approved by the content owners any time soon.

Almost half (46%) of respondents believe that illegal downloads would be greatly released if it was possible to pay to watch new TV series from other countries, without having to wait for a local release date, according to the report.

Tellingly, a third of pay-TV subscribers in the UK would consider downgrading or cancelling their subscriptions if there was a cheaper solution to receiving movies, and a remarkable 39% of UK consumers think that there may be some technology and film brands that can do a better job than existing TV channels - which will give heart to the like of LOVEFiLM and the soon-to-be-launched Netflix UK service.

“Viewers are more engaged with TV and movies than ever before and it is clear that our industry will continue to experience an unprecedented level of change," said Bill Patrizio, CEO, Red Bee Media. "The results show that viewers are increasingly savvy about what they watch and how and when they watch it and they are ever more cynical about current offers when their preference is for a more immediate, selective and flexible experience. This research provokes us to listen closely to what tomorrow’s consumer has to say and ask ourselves whether or not their expectations are driving our industry’s innovation agenda.”

The UK-wide survey is part of the company's 'Tomorrow Calling' programme, which aims to build a picture of what the media world will look like in 2020, through a series of think tanks, quantitative research, one-to-one interviews, live panel debates and white papers.

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