Ofcom reveals ethnic minority TV trends

Ethnic minority groups in Britain are more likely to have home broadband and a mobile phone than the UK average but are less inclined to watch TV, according to a new Ofcom report. 

The Ethnic Minority Groups and Communication Services report found that, across all ethnic minority groups included in the research, 90% said they have a TV at home, compared to 96% among the British population as a whole.

Half of those in the Asian Bangladeshi group have just one TV in their home, compared with 26% of the British population as a whole.

Meanwhile, 82% of Asian Indians said they own a TV and 93% said that they watch TV, compared to 96% and 99% respectively of the British population as a whole.

However, in what Ofcom admitted was a “mixed picture for TV,” 19% of those in the Black Carribean group said they watch more than 40 hours of TV a week compared to a 15% overall British average.

Some 41% of Asian Pakistanis, 40% of Asian Indians and 38% of Asian Bangladeshis also said that watching TV was their favourite pastime, compared to 26% of the British population as a whole.

In addition, Ofcom noted that “larger proportions of ethnic minority groups view TV on demand on their computers and mobile phones.”

“Most ethnic minority groups are more likely to have a broadband connection at home, particularly among the Asian Indian group (82% compared with 71% of the British population as a whole),” Ofcom said.

It also said: “Mobile phones are generally more important to people in ethnic minority groups than the wider British population. More than half of the Mixed Ethnic (57%), Asian Pakistani (58%), Asian Bangladeshi (57%), Black African (56%) and Asian Indian (54%) groups say they could not do without their mobile phones, compared with 43% of the British population as a whole.”