Study: Brits spend half their waking hours using smart phones, Internet, television or radio

Study: Brits spend half their time using media

LONDON — Britain’s media regulator says that the nation’s consumers spend nearly half their time fidgeting with their smart phones, browsing the Web, watching television or listening to the radio.

Ofcom says that its survey of more than 1,000 Brits aged 16 or older found that they spent just over seven hours of the average day consuming some kind of media.

The survey showed that multitasking — for example, making a phone call while surfing the Internet — now accounts for one fifth of all media consumed.

Ofcom said that the younger the respondent, the more it happened.

But even as Britons text more, surf more and watch more television, costs are dropping.

Ofcom said Thursday that for the fifth year running, spending on communications services had fallen.