In its latest annual study into the UK’s media habits, Ofcom found that people in the UK watched more TV and video content at home in 2023, averaging 4 hours and 31 minutes a day (an increase of 6 minutes/2 per cent compared to 2022).
According to the report, this was primarily driven by an increase in daily viewing of video-sharing platforms (up 12 per cent to 49 minutes) and broadcasters’ video-on-demand services, such as iPlayer and ITVX (up 29 per cent to 20 minutes).
However, the amount of young audiences watching TV has decreased by almost 30 per cent in the last five years, from 76 per cent in 2018 to 48 per cent in 2023. In comparison, viewers aged 16-24 are spending 1 hour 33 minutes watching video-sharing platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.
Children aged 4-15 are also tuning out at a similar rate, said the report, with only 55 per cent watching broadcast TV each week in 2023, compared to 81 per cent in 2018.
Overall, the weekly reach of traditional TV fell by a record amount in the last year, from 79 per cent in 2022 to 75 per cent in 2023. This was the second consecutive year of record decline in weekly reach, across the UK population, said Ofcom.
“Gen Z and Alpha are used to swiping and streaming, not flipping through broadcast TV channels,” said Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence. “They crave the flexibility, immediacy and choice that on-demand services offer, spending over three hours a day watching video, but only 20 minutes of live TV. It’s no surprise that the traditional TV is fast becoming a device of choice to watch YouTube.
Ofcom’s full report is available here.
