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Television has been a fixture of the living room for well over half a century but a new report out of the UK is challenging the notion that TV is still the focal point of activity there.

The results of a study involving 1,050 people commissioned by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB) reached two myth debunking conclusions.

Myth 1: TV is the dominant living room screen and entertainment the dominant activity. According to the UK survey, half of online adults say TV is the focal point of their living room, while 70 percent report that they ordinarily use a connected device while watching TV—a figure that rises to 87 percent among respondents in the 16-34 age group. Multi-device activity peaks between 6 and 9 p.m.

What sort of multitasking do Brits engage in “while watching TV”? About a third (34 percent) check emails, 31 percent Instant Message or text, and 25 percent shop online. Biometric data collected as part of the study further revealed that when people are “most highly engaged during an evening TV session” 60 percent of the time they are actually doing something other than watching TV, such as using a digital device or talking to someone.

IAB’s analysis: “Second screening is ingrained to such a degree that all screens are now equal, there’s no hierarchy, only fragmentation of attention—actually switch-screening is a much more accurate term,” said Tim Elkington, IAB chief strategy officer. “Furthermore, entertainment is only a small part of the living room media activity. It’s now a multifunctional space where people jump between individual and group activities, be it shopping, social media, emails, work or messaging.”

Myth 2: TV programs and commercial breaks determine behavior. The study also debunked—at least in the UK—the traditional assumption that people cram non-TV related behavior into commercial breaks. For example, the incidence of checking emails is consistent during TV programs and commercial breaks (both 34 percent) while texting or Instant Messaging is only 1 percent higher during a commercial.

Device tracking further showed that, overall, there was more online activity per minute during a program than during a commercial. Among the activities people engage in during a commercial break, 35 percent go online via a connected device, 15 percent talk to someone in the room, 13 percent leave the room, and 8 percent change the channel.

What the results of this study may imply about the state of British TV aside, what’s your take on the trend in the U.S.? What’s your experience? Leave a comment.