Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

It's official, were a nation of TV addicts! Brits spend 4 years watching the telly

02/07/2024

Worlds first TV Dinners for U restaurant opens in London to mark the launch of new free streaming service, U

Average Brit spends four and a half years watching TV in their lifetime, with 208 dinners eaten in front of the television annually

Half of all evening meals now eaten in front of the TV screen, the equivalent of over 208 million TV dinners a week

Worlds first TV dinners restaurant set to open in response to study findings, using food science to enhance viewing experience

UKTVs free streaming platform U, with 8,500 hours of content, has created the pop-up eatery which promises to elevate the TV dining experience by pairing food with curated TV shows available on U

Tuesday 2 July 2024 The worlds first TV Dinners for U restaurant is opening in London in a fortnight, providing guests with the ultimate TV dinner experience - scientifically pairing food with a curated list of TV shows available on new free streaming service, U, to suit every taste.

The experience was created off the back of research, which revealed that Britain is officially a nation of TV addicts - with three and a half weeks a year spent in front of the telly, the equivalent of four and a half years across an average adults lifetime.

Whats more, over half (57%) of all evening meals are eaten whilst watching our favourite shows.

A quarter (27%) of respondents who took part in a study of 2,000 adults admitted they eat a meal in front of the TV every single day, with the average person watching an hour and 40 minutes of television daily.

U, the new free streaming service from UKTV, which launches on 16th July, has teamed up with food scientist Dr Stuart Farrimond to curate a menu of dishes to enhance the viewing experience of new and well-loved shows that are available on the service.

Guests can choose a number of shows to watch including brand new entertainment show, Battle in the Box, based on a hit Korean format, which sees pairs of comics and celebrities battle it out for pride, prizes and most importantly, floorspace.

Food science expert Dr Stuart Farrimond began by identifying five genres available on U and spent multiple hours and tested dozens of recipes and possible flavour combinations to perfect the menu.

Dr Stuart Farrimonds findings include:

Factual & Real Life - with calming foods that aid clear thinking

Entertainment & Comedy - a mood-boosting menu for sharing

Action-adventure Shows - intense flavours for added excitement

Comforting Classics - comforting foods that feel familiar

Crime Drama - food to evoke intrigue and concentration

The restaurant will provide guests with a specially curated menu, informed by science, to enhance and elevate the TV viewing and dining experience. Once diners have selected their U show of choice, theyll be invited to pop in their headphones and settle in to enjoy their TV dinner.

Dr Stuart Farrimond, Food Science Expert, said:

The fact that TV dinners were invented in the 1950s is testament to how, for as long as televisions have been in our homes, we have eaten in front of them. The combination of good food and a great TV show offers an immersive escape and a multisensory experience that Brits love to enjoy. By applying the latest flavour science research to the selection of TV shows available on the free streaming platform U, I have devised meals that, whether youre watching a comforting classic or edge-of-your-seat crime drama, are designed to intensify and enhance the TV viewing experience.

Penny Brough, Chief Marketing Officer, UKTV said:

Were a self-confessed nation of TV addicts, who love nothing more than watching our favourite shows during dinner. With our TV Dinners For U restaurant, were taking this moment of enjoyment to the next level, combining Us extraordinary range of free quality content with a science enhanced food menu to create a truly unique, and first of its kind, immersive dining-viewing experience. After all, great quality television that people truly love deserves great food.

The research also showed that when it comes to TV dining habits, a whopping 95% of Brits admit to having eaten dinner in front of the telly. Even the beloved Sunday roast is susceptible to being eaten in front of the box, with more than a third (36%) of Brits admitting to having done so at least once in the past year whilst one in five (19%) admit to watching TV during their Christmas dinner!

Changing viewing habits mean that the TV dinner isnt always on the sofa, almost half (49%) will try and catch TV on their phone or tablet wherever theyre eating, if they cannot get in front of the TV. More than half (51%) of those polled believe watching TV pairs well with eating dinner, and with three in ten (30%) Brits inspired to adapt their dinner to what theyre watching on TV, the TV Dinners restaurant will offer a menu of dishes curated to pair perfectly with the programmes available on U.

According to the study, the top dilemmas when making telly choices include; the mood were in when watching (52%), the length of the programme (47%) and the genre of the show (47%). Over three-quarters (77%) of Brits admit to re-watching a favourite show, some of us as many as five times.

From fact-hounds and car enthusiasts to armchair sleuths and reality TV junkies, U will be home to almost 8,500 hours of free content, comprising of new programming, exclusive shows, award-winning originals, and iconic programmes from the BBC.

Us TV Dinners restaurant will be open to the public on Wednesday 17th July 2024 in Londons Holborn and is available to book for free here

Location: 300 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7JH Dates: Wednesday 17th July 2024 Times: 6:30pm - 9:30pm

Tickets: Free, limited tickets available on Eventbrite

Alongside viewer favourites and popular back-catalogue hits such as The Bill and Classic EastEnders, audiences will be able to enjoy ne
LINK: https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/its-official-were-a-nation-o...
See more stories from uktv

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

17/04/2026

World Fencing League Announces DAZN as Global Streaming Partner Ahead of April 25 Debut

The World Fencing League (WFL) has announced DAZN as its primary global streamin...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 SUP 6.0 and LPS-1 SUP 1.3 Software Updates

ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 SUP 6.0 and LPS-1 SUP 1.3 Software Updates ARRI has announced software updates for its ALEXA 35 Live camera and Live Production System L...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Sennheiser Announces Spectera Studio System Planner for Spectera Wireless Ecosystem

Sennheiser has announced Spectera Studio, an offline system planner for its Spec...

17/04/2026

Deltatre and DFB Announce DFB.TV+ Streaming Service, Launching May 22

Deltatre and the German Football Association (DFB) have announced DFB.TV+, a DFB-owned direct-to-consumer streaming service developed and operated by Deltatre. ...

17/04/2026

IMG announces senior leadership roles for next phase of growth

Global sports marketing agency IMG has announced new senior leadership roles, designed to strengthen how it supports rightsholders and partners in the midst of ...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: NAGRAVISION and Harmonic Launch Watermarking-as-a-Service for Live Event Streaming

NAGRAVISION and Harmonic have announced a watermarking-as-a-service solution for...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: NETGEAR and EVS Announce Technology Partnership for AV-over-IP Live Production

NETGEAR and EVS Broadcast Equipment have announced a global technology partnersh...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Americas Broadcasters Launch NEXTGEN TV Converter Box Program

America's broadcasters are launching the NEXTGEN TV Converter Box Program, a new initiative designed to provide millions of American viewers with a low-cost...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Quantum to Showcase Tape-Anchored Storage Workflows, Responds to Industry Supply Chain and Power Disruption

Quantum Corp. will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N1726), presenting what it ca...

17/04/2026

SVG Marks 20th Anniversary with Plan to Set Course for the Future

Leadership and Staff Announce '20/20 Vision' Playbook...

17/04/2026

TNT Sports Acquires U.S. Broadcast Rights to FIA World Endurance Championship

TNT Sports has announced a multi-year agreement for U.S. media rights to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Three events will air on truTV - the 24 Hou...

17/04/2026

Scripps Sports and PBR Announce Multi-Year Broadcast Partnership for Premier Womens Rodeo

Scripps Sports has announced a multi-year broadcast partnership with PBR (Profes...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Adder Technology Releases AIM 6 IP KVM Matrix Management Software

Adder Technology, a specialist in connectivity solutions and high performance IP KVM, today announced the latest release of AIM, its IP KVM matrix management so...

17/04/2026

Victory+ and Dallas Cowboys Announce Multi-Year Content Streaming Partnership

Victory , a free sports streaming platform from A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC), has announced a multi-year content distribution partnership with the Dallas Cowb...

17/04/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 11: Philadelphia Phillies Arianna Krizek - Baseball at the Bank

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...

17/04/2026

Quickplay Deploys Gray Medias New Streaming Platform - Powered by Google Cloud AI - Across 113 Markets

Quickplay has announced the full-scale deployment of Gray Media's streaming ...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Clear-Com's New FreeSpeak Cell Addresses Spectrum Congestion

Clear-Com has introduced the FreeSpeak Cell cellular-based wireless intercom system that uses LTE and 5G infrastructure to support large-scale production commun...

17/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Opens Tomorrow, Bringing Industry Together in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off Saturday, April 18, with the show floor and exhibits opening April 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show features more ...

17/04/2026

Ratings Roundup: CBS Tees Up Best Masters Since 2015; NBA Sees Big Regular Season Increases

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

17/04/2026

Nuvo Flight mic kit from AEA

Versatile ribbon mic kit revealed The latest arrival to the AEA line-up brings together three contrasting models from their Nuvo range, delivering a versati...

17/04/2026

MPG Awards 2026: Winners announced

Revealed following sold-out MPG Awards ceremony Following another sold-out MPG Awards ceremony at The Troxy in London, the MPG have released a full list of ...

17/04/2026

Maintaining America's Undersea Edge: L3Harris Secures Towed Array Production Through 2029

L3Harris towed array systems provide U.S. Navy submarines with extended acoustic...

17/04/2026

Microsoft Previews 2026 NAB Show Trends, Plans

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: LTN

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Vizrt To Feature Newly Introduced AI Keyer At 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Cobalt Digital and SineSix Media Partner to Transform Acc...

Cobalt Digital and SineSix Media Partner to Transform Accessibility Compliance into a More Engaging Viewer Experience at NAB Show 2026 Collaboration integrates...

17/04/2026

Appear appoints Mike Burk as Vice President of Business D...

Strengthening Appear's North America team with a new Vice President of Business Development Appear ASA (Appear, OSE: APR), a global leader in live producti...

17/04/2026

Wowza Launches Video Intelligence Framework to Turn Live...

New framework helps broadcasters, streaming platforms, and sports organizations apply AI to live video for monetization, metadata, highlights, and downstream wo...

17/04/2026

VisualOn and Cires21 Release Joint Research at NAB 2026 S...

New whitepaper gives broadcasters and OTT operators independent, codec-by-codec evidence that the VisualOn Optimizer transforms viewer quality of experience. V...

17/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G Brie Clayton April 17, 2026 0 Comments World's first immersive cinema camera f...

17/04/2026

NAB 2026: Vubiquity and Eluvio Showcase Streaming Solution that Significantly Reduces Distribution Costs and Time to Market

NAB 2026: Vubiquity and Eluvio Showcase Streaming Solution that Significantly Re...

17/04/2026

What Makes a Good Marathon Running Playlist?

What Makes a Good Marathon Running Playlist? We asked Xander Dawson, an eighth-semester saxophone major at Boston Conservatory running the Boston Marathon thi...

17/04/2026

Wowza Launches Video Intelligence Framework

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

PTZOptics and Moondream to Demo Visual Reasoning for Live...

At NAB Show 2026, PTZOptics (Booth N1902) will showcase a live sports streaming demo created in collaboration with Moondream, offering a new look at how Visual ...

17/04/2026

Eindhoven University of Technology relies on Lightware T...

The Eindhoven University of Technology is a research university in the Netherlands spanning 25 buildings, specialising in engineering, science and technology. D...

17/04/2026

Documentary Editor - US, Remote

Documentary Editor - US, Remote Brie Clayton April 17, 2026 0 Comments Documentary Editor April 13, 2026Freelance Video Cameraman - Los......

17/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF 100G

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF 100G Brie Clayton April 17, 2026 0 Comments Revolutionary digital film camera brings cinem...

17/04/2026

IAB: Digital Ad Revenue Hit Nearly $300 Billion in 2025

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

PSSI Global Acquires Beagle Networks

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

FCC Commissioner Gomez to Speak at LPTV Day at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

swXtch.io Introduces the swXtch AI Router for Live Media Workflows

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Bittree Returns to NAB Show with Diverse Patching Solutions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Weigel Broadcasting Taps OpenAP for Advanced Advertising Tools

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/04/2026

Dubformer and Adapt Power Goalcast Expansion into Global...

Dubformer, the AI-powered dubbing platform, and Adapt, a global leader in AI-driven localization and dubbing solutions, have enabled Goalcast, the inspirational...