TV 'overdosed on war coverage'

The Iraq war dominated the news during the height of the conflict

British broadcasters devoted too much of their schedules to coverage of the Iraq war, according to a survey of viewers.

Almost two-thirds of the 4,000 viewers canvassed said there was too much coverage of the conflict.

Thirty-seven percent of the people polled by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) said the amount of coverage was right.

The ITC survey showed that a quarter of people felt that BBC One, ITV1 and Sky News were biased towards the US and British forces.

Survey findings 23% of the public said they were not interested in coverage of the war 40% of men claimed high interest in events compared to 28% of women 70 per cent backed used of "embedded journalists" 36% said reporters involved were too wrapped up in their own celebrity

News on Channel 4 and Five was seen as the fairest.

Despite the results of the survey, interest in news bulletins grew during the course of the war.

News viewing was up by 84% from 171 minutes per week to 315 minutes per week after war broke out.

Almost a quarter of young people aged 16-24 said they hardly ever watched a main evening news programme prior to the war, but 40% said they were watching more after it began.