Most of us men are. If we don’t already own one, we are tempted daily to grab an Instant Payday Loan to buy that new big screen TV. And the remote is our best friend. Sound familiar?

We’re not alone

According to statistics from a French media ratings agency in their report entitled “Television Year”, 2008 was great year for us couch potatoes. And sports, particularly football, remained our firm TV favorite followed by fiction. This data comes from over 80 countries worldwide. The report was released ahead of the opening on Monday of the influential five-day MIPTV market in the Riviera town of Cannes.

How much time do we watch TV?

We TV addicts spent 188 minutes daily – three hours and eight minutes – on average in 2008, one minute more a day than in 2007, noted the study. This means that we are winning in the struggle to stay on the couch, in a horizontal position, if possible.

So, what’s showing?

North America notched up a big increase, with fans watching four minutes more TV a day, taking their total average dose to 272 minutes – more than four and a half hours. Europe increased to three hours and 37 minutes – 217 minutes – despite a three minute decrease in France and a one minute-drop in Germany. Their time spent in wine and beer bars was probably up to compensate. TV fans in Latin America watched one minute more, taking daily TV intake to 182 minutes on average.

Sports

It is no surprise that in a year that saw both the Beijing Olympics and football’s Euro 2008 taking place, sports retained its top TV ranking. There is just nothing like watching sports on TV. Okay, so one is not physically present at the game, but one can get all the details straight to the couch – the replays, the explanations, the arguments and all the sordid details.

Movies

The second most popular TV genre was fiction, meaning movies. US-made fiction continued to woo viewers with top-rated shows such as CSI Crime Scene. This was followed by entertainment.

Reality

Then came the stuff I personally never watch – the long-running, hugely popular TV reality shows such as Big Brother and Survivor continued to score around the world, as did family entertainment formats, including “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Idols.”

Other countries

Russian series “Tatyana’s Day” and “The Apostle” remained popular in neighboring countries as did Colombian smash hit telenovela series “Ugly Betty”. Ugly Betty has been running for months, maybe even years. Every time that name comes up when I am surfing the channels, I switch away as fast as possible. All they have to do to get me is to change the name to Pretty Betty or Sexy Betty. Ugly? Who needs it?

The most unlikely success of 2008, however, was Turkish TV series, “Gumus,” which has attracted a big following in the Middle East despite failing to catch on in its native country.

TV in General

What a great thing TV is! Despite what the critics say about it ruining our children, I cannot imagine life without it. From on or off the couch!