Richest TV viewers flock to University Challenge, Only Connect and The Night Manager
Viewers with the highest average income favour BBC4 over any other channel, while University Challenge has the wealthiest TV audience
What do the richest people in the UK like watching?
Some intriguing research for total viewing in 2016 attempts to show whether income influences TV viewing.
The report shows the country’s highest earners favour BBC4 (average income of viewers £28,100 per year) above all the other public service broadcasters, followed by BBC2 (£27,500), BBC1 (£26,100) and Channel 4 (£26,000).
Bringing up the rear of the top ten is 5 USA (£21,100) and ITVBe (£17,400).
As for non-public service broadcaster channels, the richest viewers tune in to Sky Atlantic (average income of viewers £26,800), followed by Sky 1 (£25,400) then Dave (£24,500) according to the findings compiled by industry magazine Broadcast.
As for the individual shows watched by the nation’s wealthiest, the crown is taken by University Challenge (£30,200 per year) followed by BBC4’s Only Connect and BBC1’s The Night Manager (£29,300).
Viewers for these shows earn an average considerably more than the UK average income of £27,600.
The richest Channel 4 viewers (earning £27,800) watch (quelle surprise!) property show Location, Location, Location accoding to the findings which assess the average earnings of a household's major earner - the so-called Chief Income Earner or DIE - and their spouse or partner where appropriate.
The most loaded ITV viewers are keen on their drama with The Durrells and Cold Feet both boasting audiences with an average income of £26,200.
The bad new for TV viewers - and advertisers - is that the earnings of dedicated TV viewers is lower than the national average. The estimated gross average income of all viewers watching TV between 1pm and 11pm in 2016 was £24,000 - £3,600 lower than the UK average in 2016.
