A trio of telly addicts set a new world record for the longest marathon watching television earlier this month with a gruelling 87 hour stint over five days.

Dan Jordan, Spencer Larson and Chris Laughlin, set the new benchmark at the TiVo booth during the Consumer Electronics show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada.

The three Las Vegas residents watched programing from two TiVo Roamio DVRs that had been broadcast and recorded prior to the attempt

Under Guinness World Records rules for the category, the trio were allowed breaks of five minutes per hour to use the bathroom or nap. While the viewers could bank the five-minute breaks, the longest anyone slept during the attempt at any one time was 80 minutes.

The contestants received regular medical checkups throughout and were allowed to change channels and eat and drink while they watched, but were not allowed to read or talk on the phone at the same time.

For completing the marathon, the three split a prize of $5,000 and each got a package of prizes, including a TV, TiVo Roamio with product lifetime service, iPad, Sonos system, gamer chair and a year of Netflix.

"When we arrived on Monday at 5 p.m., we had no idea what we were in for," said Jordan. "It’s been a long week, but it’s been fun."

The attempt broke a record set in 2012 by Carin Shreeves and Jeremiah Franco during an event organised by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in Los Angeles, which saw the pair watch episodes of The Simpsons for over 86 hours.