Consumers still seem unwilling to embrace the idea of watching TV on the internet, despite the launch of the BBC iPlayer and services on several other networks, research suggests.

Less than one Briton in five streamed or downloaded traditional TV programmes from the web using legal services offered by networks or internet services providers such as Tiscali, according to a survey of the nation's digital entertainment habits.

Virgin Media was the most popular offering, with 20 per cent of respondents saying that they used the service regularly or occasionally, followed by Channel 4's on demand service, 4oD, which was used by 15 per cent and the BBC iPlayer, at 13 per cent.

By comparison, Joost, the internet television provider set up by the co-founders of Skype, was used by only 4 per cent of people - despite the company having done deals with major media partners such as Sony, CNN, Viacom and Warner Music Group. The same number used BT Vision and Tiscali TV, which was formerly known as HomeChoice.

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More than half of respondents said they would be more interested in watching television on the internet if a greater amount of content was pulled together in the same location, as has been suggested by the mooted tie-up between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, codenamed 'Project Kangaroo'.

"People are still familiar with the idea of sitting down at the appointed time to watch their favourite programme, and to some extent people like having their lives dictacted by scheduling," Alexander Ross, a partner in music and technology law at Wiggin, the media law firm, said." There's a real community created around discussing last night's episode.

"We will gradually move to the on demand mentality," he said, "especially when home entertainment systems improve such that you can connect the PC to the television and have the 'TV over the internet' experience on a big screen."

Among the other principal findings of the survey of more than 1,500 Britons, conducted by Entertainment Media Research on behalf of Wiggin, were that:

- books and Sky TV were still the forms of entertainment with the highest degree of emotional attachment: 53 per cent of people said they would never stop or hate to stop reading books

- illegal file-sharing was still widespread. 70 per cent of respondents said they would stop downloading illegally if they received a cease and desist order from their ISP, although two in three thought it was "very unlikely" that they would ever get caught

- only 8 per cent regularly used Skype or another voice over internet protocol (VOIP) provider to make telephone calls

- 50 per cent of people now had a wireless internet connection in their home; 5 per cent owned an e-book reader, such as Amazon's Kindle or Sony's Portable Reader; 3 per cent owned a Sony Blu-ray player

- 30 per cent owned an iPod

Among the technologies likely to be taken up by respondents in the next six months, the most popular was a 'next generation DVD player' - now likely to be a Blu-ray, after Toshiba withdrew its support for HD DVD - with 24 per cent saying they would make such a purchase.

The next most popular were the use of Skype to make phone calls (13 per cent) and listening to podcasts (11 per cent).

The uptake of the internet on mobile phones has also been sluggish. Only 11 per cent of people access the net on their phone, despite the fact that 62 per cent of people now have a phone capable of connecting to the web.

Lack of speed is the most commonly cited reason, with one in five say saying the internet is too slow on mobiles. One in four also thought the configuration of websites on mobile phones was poor.

Only 19 per cent of people have streamed or downloaded music to their mobile.

Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have continued to show rapid growth, with 34 per cent of all respondents now regularly browsing such sites.

That was fewer than the number who read books (47 per cent) and listen to radio (51 per cent), but higher than the percentage that go to the cinema (21 per cent), rent DVDs (15 per cent), and buy video games (13 per cent).

The group most likely to spend time on social networking sites was girls aged 20-24, of whom 68 per cent use such sites. Among boys the same age, the rate was 59 per cent.

Of interest to companies and brands - who can now attach advertisements to messages sent by Facebook users to their friends - will be that 19 per cent of people who use social networking sites have found out about a movie through a recommendation on a social networking site, and 13 per cent had found out about a song or album.

Just over half of respondents disliked the idea of receiving more targeted advertisements through the use of personal data they made available on such sites.

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