guides

Does TV Count as Screen Time? Parents' Questions

By Chaz Bagri17 August 20267 min read

A red-haired girl smiles with her eyes closed, holding a pair of white headphones over her ears

Does screen time include TV? Yes. What UK guidance says about TV, FaceTime, educational apps, audiobooks, the car and a sibling's game.

Yes, TV counts as screen time. The UK government's guidance for under-5s asks parents to "Limit total screen time", and the expert report behind it names television among the screens it means. The other "does it count?" questions follow: video calls, educational apps, audiobooks, the car and a sibling's game, each answered from the guidance, including where it says nothing.

These questions arrive the week you start keeping count. The numbers themselves are in our screen time by age guide. This page is about what goes into them. Most of the official advice is written for under-5s, so where the answer changes for a child of 6 to 8, it says so.

Does TV count as screen time?

Yes. Television is on the list in the expert report's definition of screen use. The government's Best Start in Life guidance opens with "Limit total screen time for young children, wherever possible." The independent report on screen use by children under 5 that informed it defines screen use as "the whole range of use of digital screens on any device, across television, computers, gaming devices, e-book readers, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets."

The same report notes that most under-5s' screen use is on TV and tablets. So the line for 2 to 5 year olds, "Try to keep it to 1 hour a day. Less if possible.", includes the telly.

What the guidance adds about television is where and how. "Try not to have screens on in the background", keep mealtimes and bedrooms screen-free, and watch together where you can. The full text, line by line, is in our explainer on the UK screen time guidance.

For children over 5 there's no UK hourly figure. Guidance for 5 to 16 year olds has been announced but was still unpublished at this page's last update.

Does FaceTime count as screen time?

It's screen time, but of the sort the guidance explicitly allows. For under-2s, Best Start in Life says to avoid screens "other than for shared activities with family that encourage bonding, interaction and conversation", and that these "could include video calling with friends and family". A call with Grandad is one of the two shared activities it names; the other is looking through digital photo albums together.

For 2 to 5 year olds, the guidance doesn't say whether a call comes out of the hour. It doesn't carve calls out either, so the plain reading is that they count.

What the evidence says is that a call isn't the same as watching. The government's expert report says the evidence suggests "interactivity is key to educational benefits", including a child "interacting with parents or carers via the screen", and that video calling "can help maintain and strengthen family bonds". So a call is the best use of the hour you've got, and it helps to have a game ready. Our list of games to play on FaceTime keeps a three-year-old on the line for longer than a wave.

Does educational screen time count?

Yes. The under-5 guidance doesn't make an exception for it. Best Start in Life asks you to "Ensure screen time of any kind doesn't replace sleep, physical activity, active play or direct parent-child interaction", and "any kind" includes the phonics app. Why some programmes are better than others is covered in how much screen time is too much.

The expert report is even-handed about it. "Longer periods of quality educational or interactive screen use may bring benefits for child development," it says. "However, they may also have opportunity costs in displacing beneficial real-world interaction, sleep or physical activity."

Two edge cases come up a lot. The first is the iPad at nursery. The report says it "has not sought to provide advice for early years educational settings, where the use of screens for educational purposes requires different considerations." The guidance is written for parents at home, and it doesn't tell you how to count nursery screen time.

The second is homework on a laptop. Once a child is at school, the UK Chief Medical Officers encourage parents and carers to agree boundaries "outside of school and educational use", and to follow the school's own policy on screen time. Homework sits with the school, not with the family deal.

Do audiobooks count as screen time?

The guidance doesn't mention audiobooks, and nothing in it treats listening as screen time. Its first suggestion for replacing screens at mealtimes is "background music". That suggests sound on its own isn't what it's worried about.

Plenty of families already use them. Children aged 3 to 7 are more likely to listen to audiobooks than any other age group, at 32 per cent, according to parents surveyed for Ofcom's Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report, published in May 2026.

The catch is the device. A story playing on a tablet in a child's lap is one tap away from a video, so a speaker, or a phone face down on the shelf, keeps it an audiobook.

And if yours lives on a smart speaker, press play yourself. Best Start in Life says "Don't let young children use AI toys, tools or chatbots until there's more evidence", and it lists smart speakers among them.

Does a tablet in the car count?

Yes. The guidance doesn't mention cars, so the ordinary advice applies. The minutes count towards the total. And a child in a car seat with a tablet is about as close as it gets to the thing Best Start in Life warns against: "young children using screens alone", because it "reduces opportunities for social time and active play."

For a child of 2 or more, a film on a long drive can sit inside the hour. What the guidance steers you away from is the tablet as the default for the whole journey. Slow-paced content is its preference, and an audiobook covers a lot of motorway.

The UK Chief Medical Officers' tip that everyone should take "a break after a couple of hours sitting or lying down using a screen" fits neatly with a stop at the services. For the miles in between, our long car journey activities has 15 screen-free ideas, sorted for children who get car sick.

Does watching a sibling's game count?

If they're watching it, yes. The government's expert report lists "watching others use screens" among the digital activities young children take part in at home, alongside video calls and e-books. If they're in the room but not watching, the guidance's line on background screens applies: "Try not to have screens on in the background particularly during family time, meals or playtime."

The report heard about this from parents, too. "Several parents said their younger children started using screens earlier than their older siblings, partly because there were already screens being used in the house, making it difficult to restrict access."

The content matters as much as the minutes. The guidance prefers "Slow-paced, predictable content" for young children, which a game built for an older child often isn't. But the report also found that "Well-designed content and interactive activities that are appropriate for the child's age" can support young children's learning, and that this is "particularly true when activities are shared with a parent or other supportive adult or older sibling." A game chosen for the little one and played with their big sister is a different thing from watching over her shoulder.

What goes in the gap when the answer is yes?

Something that doesn't need counting. Best Start in Life's own swaps are a good start: at mealtimes, "background music, simple conversation, table games, colouring or even 'I Spy'"; at bedtime, "reading bedtime stories together". Audiobooks belong on that list too.

Movement is the other half. For a child of three or more, a children's yoga mat with its 15 poses numbered and laser-engraved gives them a sequence to work through by themselves, no screen required.

If you'd like the house to agree what counts and what doesn't, our family screen time rules page has a written agreement you can adapt. Writing down "calls with Grandad count, homework doesn't" settles more arguments than a timer.

When should you mention screens to a GP, health visitor or teacher?

If your child's speech, sleep, mood or behaviour is worrying you, or every switch-off turns into a battle, raise it with your health visitor or GP. For a school-age child, their teacher can tell you how they are during the day. Any of them can help you see what else is going on.

Frequently asked questions

What devices count as screen time?

Any device with a screen. The government's expert report on under-5s defines screen use as covering 'television, computers, gaming devices, e-book readers, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets', and adds that it can include screens on toys and household devices. In practice that means the TV, tablets, phones, laptops, consoles and toys with a screen.

Does TV before bed count differently?

It's the same minutes, but the timing carries its own advice. Best Start in Life says 'Try to avoid screens for the hour before bed, as this could affect sleep', and suggests reading bedtime stories together instead. The NHS sets a slightly shorter gap for phones, tablets and laptops: none in the 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Our page on screen time and sleep covers that last hour.

Do e-readers count as screen time?

Yes, they're screens: the expert report's definition of screen use includes e-book readers. But reading an e-book together is the shared kind of screen use the report recommends, listed alongside video calls with relatives. For the hour before bed, a paper book keeps things simple, because the guidance's bedtime advice is to try to avoid screens in that hour.

Does the guidance count weekends differently?

No. Best Start in Life gives a daily figure for 2 to 5 year olds, 'Try to keep it to 1 hour a day. Less if possible.', and says nothing about weekends or averaging across a week. So a 90-minute Saturday film is over the line for that day. The wording is 'try to', though: something to aim for, not a rule you've broken.

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