STILL Game was the most watched TV show in Scotland last year, with almost two million people tuning in to the new series.

A total of 1.8 million Scots – one-third of the population – watched episode three of the seventh season when it was shown in October.

The viewing figures meant the TV reunion, written by and starring Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, eclipsed Andy Murray winning the Wimbledon final last July.

However, Murray’s triumph was still the most watched programme at its time of broadcast, according to the figures compiled by Ofcom.

It comes amid a major transformation of TV viewing habits as people increasingly “binge-watch” episodes of their favourite programmes instead of tuning in live.

Glenn Preston, Ofcom’s Scotland director, said: “Technology has revolutionised the way we watch TV.

“Gone are the days of waiting a week for the next episode.

“Now people find it hard to resist watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move."

The second most popular show of last year was the Hogmanay edition of Only An Excuse?, which drew 1.3 million viewers in Scotland.

The Wimbledon final was third with 1.2 million viewers and The Great British Bake Off fourth with 1.16 million viewers.

Eight of the top 10 programmes for 2016 were on BBC One, the exceptions being a Britain’s Got Talent show and the England vs Scotland World Cup qualifier in November, both of which were broadcast on STV.

A spokesman for BBC Scotland said: “Our audiences love Still Game and always tune into it – and our other comedies and dramas like Only an Excuse, Scot Squad, Shetland and River City – in huge numbers.

“We’ve just started filming the next series and already there’s a massive interest in it so it’s not a surprise so see it figure right at the top of the Ofcom Scottish TV favourites.”

The figures are part of Ofcom's annual Communications Market Report, Scotland 2017.

It found that more than one-third of Scots are “binge-watching” episodes of television programmes.

Some 74 per cent of adults have used technology such as catch-up and on-demand services to view back-to-back episodes of shows such as House Of Cards or Game Of Thrones in one sitting.

It found that 38 per cent of people are doing so at least once a week, while 57 per cent do it at least once a month.

Although watching television on-demand has increased in popularity, the report indicates that live broadcast TV is still key to Scotland’s viewing.

Just over half of Scots said that if they wanted to watch TV, they would first “switch on the TV and see what’s airing on live broadcast TV”.

Mr Preston said: “It’s important to recognise that live television still has a special draw, and has the power to bring the whole family together in a common experience.”

One-third (33 per cent) of adults said the temptation to watch another episode has cost them sleep and left them feeling tired.

The report found that BBC One and STV’s early evening local news bulletins attracted a greater share in Scotland than the UK average for the same weekday time slot.

Reporting Scotland on BBC One drew an average of 30.7 per cent of all TV viewers in Scotland between 6.30pm and 7.00pm in 2016.

STV News at Six attracted a lower share (25.6 per cent) than Reporting Scotland, though it was still higher than the Channel 3 UK average share (19.6 per cent) in the same time slot.

On average, people in Scotland spend three hours 56 minutes per day watching television, slightly more than the UK average of 3 hours 32 minutes.

BBC, ITV Border Scotland and STV’s spending on first-run originated content for viewers in Scotland increased by £2 million in real terms from 2015 to £57m in 2016.

However, this was a fall of £1m in real terms compared to 2011.

BBC Alba spending increased by 19 per cent overall in real terms, with £16.4m spent on total programme output in 2016.