Couch potato is dying as viewers watch TV online

London (IANS) - More and more viewers are now watching TV shows online, heralding the death of the couch potato, reveals a new UK research.

Actually more than a third of users (34 percent) now watch preferred programmes online compared to only 29 percent who watch them mostly on TV.

And more than half the students said they watched TV programmes on the net.

Viewers want to see more drama and documentaries rather than reality and celebrity shows, researchers found, according to the Daily Mail.

The survey shows viewers want to avoid programmes like the 'Big Brother.'

The figures from a joint survey by SeeSaw.com and Radio Times show that the viewership patterns are changing fast.

John Keeling, a representative of online TV service SeeSaw, said: "The nation's hunger for great TV is insatiable."

"Viewing across the board is in robust health, but scratch the surface and a quiet revolution is taking place," he said.

"Whilst the nation continues to watch fantastic shows like Doctor Who and Top Gear, a whole new generation of TV fans are enjoying these shows online."

Ben Preston, Radio Times editor, said: "The couch potato is dead, the age of the hunter-gatherer is nigh. Technology means television isn't a passive activity any more. We hunt down what we want to watch..."

The survey of 2,000 adults finds nearly a third of viewers (31 percent) want more drama, while 30 percent would prefer to see more documentaries.

Just two percent of those polled said they wanted more celebrity content, and three percent wanted further reality TV.

A total of 44 percent said Big Brother was the show they were most likely to avoid.