As a survey reveals that more people are hitting the off button when it comes to election coverage and many more plan to hire a video or DVD on election night, it seems there's too much politics on TV.

Viewers are voting with their remote controls. Coverage of the election campaign is proving a bigger turn-off than ever before.

No matter where people put a cross on the ballot paper, they won't be voting for more political broadcasts on the box.

This apathy could be because there's too much about the run-up to the election as broadcasters vie to outdo each other. Rolling news channels operating 24 hours a day, such as BBC News 24 and Sky, mean there's no let up from the political onslaught.

As the media has been speculating on the forthcoming election since the beginning of the year, viewers may have felt they'd seen and heard enough even before Tony Blair named the day last month.

The lack of interest could simply result from viewers not trusting anything politicians say any more and refusing to waste time listening to false promises or smear tactics.

A deciding factor could be that, forced by broadcasting regulations to be fair and impartial, TV programmes end up being boring.

Perhaps it's mere coincidence that Choices, who operate 229 home entertainment stores in the UK, report an 11 per cent increase in DVD and video rental over the past two weeks.

Blockbuster Video, with more than 720 stores nationwide, reckons more people will be renting a DVD or video instead of watching election night coverage. Its survey discovered that nine out of ten viewers will not be watching the results on TV. Even more embarrassing is that the poll was conducted in the constituencies of the three main party leaders.

The study also discovered only 47 per cent of those quizzed in the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency planned to vote on May 5. The figure was a healthier 65 per cent in the constituencies of Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy.

Both companies, of course, have a vested interest in showing that people are switching off TV political coverage and reaching for a DVD or video. More impartial evidence is provided by TV industry magazine Broadcast which reports a drop in audiences for news programmes since the election campaign kicked off.

Since Parliament was dissolved on April 5, both BBC1 and ITV1's nightly news broadcasts have each had around 200,000 fewer viewers. Ratings for C4's 7pm news have remained static. The only bright spot is that BBC2's Newsnight has picked up an extra 100,000 viewers a night. Unless it was the programme's short-lived, controversial introduction of a weather forecast that made extra audiences tune in.

Editor Conor Digam sums it up succinctly: "TV audiences find the campaign a bore."

Even party political broadcasts no longer carry the power they once did. Shunted out of peaktime slots, they're all too easy to ignore. Employing an Oscar-winning director like Anthony Minghella to direct Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in a Labour Party broadcast won not votes but ridicule. The days when such broadcasts caused a chain reaction of outrage and debate have long gone.

Ratings for political programmes are as disappointing as those for ITV1's new Saturday night Celebrity Wrestling, which attracted under four million viewers. If they'd had Ann Widdecombe and John Prescott instead of Jenny Powell and James Hewitt in the ring that would have pepped up TV political coverage no end.

An American Presidential style debate between Tony Blair, Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy might have sparked viewer interest. Getting the trio on the same programme, Question Time Special, but quizzing them separately was a bit of a cheat.

Like politicians, broadcasters have promised much. The ITV manifesto spoke of "distinctive, lively coverage of the campaign" while making it relevant and engaging and explaining how proposed policies would affect people's lives.

The BBC's coverage would be "unprecedented in both scale and its use of the latest in broadcast technology to deliver greater choice for audiences".

The first interactive election coverage was trumpeted by the BBC. What a long way we've come since Peter Snow and his swingometer, which looked like it'd been knocked together by someone who'd failed O-level woodwork.

The BBC, ITV and Sky will spend millions reporting the election results. Each will claim to provide the fastest, best and most exciting coverage. Every presenter who can hold a microphone will be sent to await the result in constituencies up and down the country.

The trouble is that many viewers will be pressing the off button. According to Blockbuster, more than half those who said they wouldn't be watching the election on TV will rent a movie for the night. One in ten will hire a video game.

There's good news and bad news for Tony Blair, as pensioner Joan Simpson, from Newton Aycliffe, told the survey that she would be voting, but wasn't interested in watching it on the television. "I might hire a film or I might read a library book," she said.

The people at Choices have suggestions for helping her pick something suitable. The Blair Witch Project ("a group go in search of the mythical Blair, only to be traumatised by their experiences") is an obvious choice.

I rather like Dumb And Dumber about "the cross-country adventures of incredibly stupid men". The Conservative leader will be hoping that Howard's End isn't a sign of things to come.

My favourite is Without A Paddle, described in the following terms: "three men embark on an adventure to hit the jackpot. The venture becomes increasingly dangerous with hilarious results".

* Election Night is on BBC1 from 9.55pm on Thursday. Election 2005 is on ITV from 10pm. Election Results Live begins on five at midnight.

Published: 30/04/2005