Ofcom survey also finds the public are more likely to be concerned about violence and swearing than sexual content

A third of UK TV viewers believe that sexually explicit material should never be shown on air, and almost three in 10 say there is currently too much sex on our screens.

The figures from Ofcom’s latest attitudes to broadcasting survey suggest that a large minority are opposed to sexual content on TV, but the public as a whole are more likely to be concerned about violence and swearing.

More people – two-fifths – think there is too much violence and swearing, while 52% said there was an acceptable amount of swearing, 47% said there was an acceptable amount of violence and 57% said there was an acceptable amount of sex.

More than half – 56% – said they had no problem with adult channels appearing in the electronic programme guide.

Older viewers were much more likely to object to the amount of certain types of content on TV, with 44% of over-65s saying there was too much sex and nearly two-thirds saying there was too much violence. Almost half of the age group said sexually explicit content should never be shown.

There was a gender divide in attitudes to sex and violence, with women more likely to object to the presence of any sexually explicit material and say that it should only be available on subscription services.

In contrast, men were more likely to say that particularly violent content should be freely available on any channel after the 9pm watershed.

The study also found that three in 10 viewers thought TV had got worse over the last year. The most common reasons they cited were lack of variety, increasing numbers of repeats, general lack of quality and “too many reality shows”.