The Dutch are watching more television than ever, with average viewing time per day stretching to three hours 20 minutes last year, according to official figures.

However, there is a clear age divide, with the over-34s watching more television and younger people finding other sources of screen entertainment, the Kijkonderzoek foundation said.

The over-50s watch most television – an average of four hours 29 minutes a day, up 15 minutes on five years ago. Teenagers, however, are watching television for one hour and 50 minutes, down three minutes on 2010.

‘There is a slight shift underway but not a revolution,’ said public broadcasting sector spokesman Jeroen Verspeek.

New forms of watching tv, via streaming services, come on top of traditional viewing, he told broadcaster Nos. ‘Watching live sport and programmes such as reality soap Boer Zoekt Vrouw is always important,’ he said. ‘We want to keep watching them live.’