Listen: Jamie East on factual TV programmes

It’s not just Zoom quizzes and gardening that have boomed over the last 12 months; there has also been a huge spike in the viewing of factual TV programming, from documentaries to nature programmes.

Over a third (38%) of Brits have watched more documentaries in the last year than ever before, according to new research by Sky Documentaries. Almost a third (31%) of eagle-eyed viewers have gone on to research topics further after initially learning about them on screen and around a quarter (24%) say they like watching documentaries as they love the sense of discovery they experience.

1 in 3 (33%) admit the majority of their knowledge comes from watching factual TV programmes, ahead of books (23%) and the news (17%).  Furthermore, Brits trust documentaries most as a source of information – more so than they do the government (24% vs 11%) which highlights the impact of what we see on our screens has had in recent times.

Aston spoke to presenter, TV and film critic Jamie East.

Photo by Jens Kreuter on Unsplash