New research has revealed that the internet will replace TV as the preferred entertainment medium over the coming months.

A report from Microsoft has suggested that consumers in Europe will spend more time on the internet than watching television by June 2010.

Users across the continent will spend 14.2 hours a week online by this date, while spending just 11.5 hours viewing TV programmes.

Microsoft cited increasing broadband connectivity as a reason for this predicted rise, explaining that instead of moving away from TV completely users will continue to use different platforms to access programmes.

The Europe logs on: Internet trends of today and tomorrow report also suggested that mobile broadband will gain dominance over the next five years.

Just 50 per cent of internet use will be facilitated by traditional PCs by 2014, with consumers looking to mobile phones, laptops and other mobile devices.

John Mangelaars, Microsoft's vice president for consumer and online in Europe, explained: "While today the experience is fragmented across multiple media devices and environments - from the living room television to the bedroom PC to the portable music player and mobile phone - in future, software will enable connected, integrated entertainment experiences."