Ofcom has published its annual Media Nations report on how people in the UK access and consume different forms of media.
The report shows that overall, a weekly average of 70 per cent of viewers in the UK watched live, recorded or on-demand content from broadcasters in 2025, down from 73 per cent in 2024 and 78 per cent in 2022.
However, while the proportion of people watching live or recorded television decreased to a weekly average of 54 per cent in 2025 (down from 71 per cent in 2022), Ofcom found that there has been consistent growth in the reach of BVoD, with 46 per cent of people watching it at least weekly in 2025 (up from 38 per cent in 2022). Time spent watching BVoD has also grown—up by three minutes a day in 2025, said Ofcom.
Turning on the TV
The report also reveals that the first thing viewers see when they turn on their TV has changed. More than a quarter of viewers (26 per cent) now opt for Netflix as their first choice when looking for something to watch, with the BBC at 25 per cent and ITV at 15 per cent.
Ofcom also states that viewers spent an average of 51 minutes watching video-sharing platforms such as YouTube across all devices in the home last year. According to the report, the growth of in-home viewing of YouTube is down to more people watching on their TV set, with the average time spent watching the platform on TV increasing by 111 per cent, from 9 minutes per day in 2022 to 19 minutes in 2025.
Speaking about the findings, Kate Davies, group director for strategy and research at Ofcom, said: “As audiences increasingly benefit from an incredible choice of content, competition between traditional broadcasters, streaming services, video sharing platforms and other forms of digital media is fierce.
“But in face of these challenges, traditional broadcasters are showing resilience with the power to bring millions of us together to watch or listen for big, national moments, as well as growing their digital offerings.”
The full report is available to download here.
