An increase in the use of digital devices means families are spending more time together in the same room - but doing separate things, according to an Ofcom report.
The traditional living room has been transformed into a digital media hub where the household can watch television while multi-tasking via tablets and smartphones, the annual State of the Nation report said..
The average household now owns more than three types of internet-enabled devices, with one in five owning six or more, the communications regulator said.
"Our research shows that increasingly families are gathering in the living room to watch TV just as they were in the 1950s - but now delivered on bigger, wider and more sophisticated sets," said James Tickett, Ofcom's director of research.
"Unlike the 1950s family, however, they are also doing their own thing. They are tweeting about a TV show, surfing the net or watching different content altogether on a tablet.
"Just a few years ago, we would be talking about last night's TV at work or at school. Now, we're having those conversations live while watching TV - using social media, text and instant messaging."
Families are increasingly reverting to just one giant TV in the sitting room, with 91% of adults tuning in at least once a week, up from 88% in 2002, the survey of 3,700 people aged 16 and over found.
Single TV usage is up from 35% in 2002 to 41% in 2012, with the number of five to 15-year-olds with a television in their bedroom dropping from 69% in 2007 to 52% in the first quarter of this year.
But more than half of viewers - 53% regularly multi-task by streaming videos, sending instant messages and updating their social media status following a "huge growth" in tablet and smartphone ownership.
A quarter of viewers are regularly "media meshing" - using devices to communicate about the programme they are watching - while 49% engage in "media stacking" to carry out completely unrelated activities such as social networking or online shopping, most of which are done on smartphones.
The report also reveals that internet-based forms of communication such as email, instant messaging and social networking are now more popular than texting among younger people, with 84% of 16 to 24-year-olds using at least one of these methods on a weekly basis compared with 80% who text.