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The days of the television being the 'first screen' we turn to for entertainment are over.  

A study has found the box has been officially replaced by phones and tablets - a trend that has been on the increase for the past two years.

People now spend an average of two hours and 57 minutes each day on mobile devices and, which is up 9.3 per cent from just nine months ago.

In comparison, the time spent watching television has stayed the same since 2012, at two hours and 48 minutes per day, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.

People now spend an average of two hours and 57 minutes on smartphones and tablets, which is up 9.3 per cent from nine months ago. This is the first time that time spent on mobile screens has surpassed time spent watching TV, according to data released by the Yahoo-owned mobile analytics service Flurry

This is the first time that time spent on mobile screens has surpassed time spent watching TV, according to data released by the Yahoo-owned mobile analytics service Flurry.

'Smart devices are practical, and are glued to consumers 24/7/365,' the San Francisco-based group wrote.

'Those factors, combined with the content explosion on these devices through millions of apps, helped mobile snatch the big prize from television.'

The same study found that in the past nine months, time spent in the top 25 applications - including Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and Skype - only grew by one per cent.

The data didn't take into consideration the phenomenon of 'second screen', in which there is an overlap between the time spent on TV and that on mobile devices

But time spent in the apps below the the top 25, grew 21 per cent in the same time period, as more and more applications made their way into the top app stores.

However, the data didn't take into consideration the phenomenon of 'second screen', in which there is an overlap between the time spent on TV and that on mobile devices.

A separate study recently found that we spend more time on our smartphones than with our partner.

CHILDREN ARE NOW DITCHING TV IN FAVOUR OF THE IPAD

Tablets are now more important to children than their TVs, with more than one-third of children aged five to 15 owning their own device

Tablets are now more important to children than their TVs, with more than one-third of young people aged five to 15 owning their own device.

Around 34 per cent of children in this category own their own tablet, which is up from 19 per cent last year, according to official figures. 

And six in ten children use a tablet at home - a 50 per cent increase on 2013 - while the number of children with televisions in their rooms has fallen by a third in five years.

The rapid increase means that some preschoolers are using a tablet to surf the web, play games and watch video clips.

The report by UK regulator Ofcom found that 11 per cent of children aged three and four have their own tablet, up from three per cent last year.

The number of five to 15-year-olds who use a tablet to go online has doubled to 42 per cent since last year, while the proportion of children using the internet via a PC or laptop fell for the first time, by three per cent, to 88 per cent.

As well as replacing TVs, fewer children also have games consoles in their bedrooms as tablets take over the role.

The average smartphone user tends to spend two hours (119 minutes) a day using their gadget, the study found.

Yet, the amount of time we spend with our other halves per day is just 97 minutes - a third less - on average.

The study, from network operator O2 looked at exactly what we use our phones for and how much time each activity takes each day.

It found that people now spend 24 minutes every day browsing the internet - longer than anything else.

This was followed by checking various social networks (16 minutes), listening to music (15 minutes) and playing games (13 minutes).

In the past nine months, time spent in the top 25 applications only grew by one per cent. But time spent in the apps below the the top 25, grew 21 per cent in the same time period