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What do you call yours?  This is a question that has been asked recently of numerous participants in an online survey.  To clear up any confusion regarding the subject in question, I should point out that the 3,800 participants, taking part in the survey, were being asked to reveal the pet name they had bestowed on the piece of electronic equipment that was often the cause of family arguments – namely the family remote control.

Well that answers the question of what was being asked and also what the medium being used to get the responses.  But who asked the question and, of equal importance, on whose behalf was the question being asked even before we get to what was the gleaned from the responses.  So lets deal with this second batch of questions in the order stated.

The online survey regarding the names people used when referring to their remote control (or, if they are like me, the names given to the multiple remote devices that tend to build up over time.  I can currently see at least six such devices from the data comfort of my armchair), was conducted by One Poll during the months of September and October 2016.  One Poll is a marketing research company that specialises in online quantitative research polling with its UK offices based in London and Bristol.  With this particular online research, One Poll was working on behalf of TV Licensing possible as a way of perhaps reminding tele addicts that you do need a license if they want to watch or record live TV programmes on any channel including content viewed via the iPlayer on any device.

The result of the research conducted by One Poll revealed that the UK members of the public surveyed had a mind of their own when it came to naming their favourite remote control device.  Often the names given gave the impression that some remote controls were regarding on a par with a family pet.  Not surprisingly, perhaps because revealing the true answer might be felt to be too embarrassing, the number one name offered was “Remote” or “The Remote”.  This would have been my choice if I had been asked which I wasn’t. 

The official top twenty listing of names for this useful but humble remote control are as follows:-

As part of their brief, One Poll also recorded the less-popular names along with the city and region where they were used.

So what do you call yours and is your licence up-to-date?

www.tvlicensing.co.uk