According to the latest edition of Ofcom’s Media Nations Report, the BBC remained the most-watched broadcaster/service in 2024 among all individuals, with YouTube moving into second place, ahead of ITV.
The 2025 edition of the report finds that total in-home use of YouTube grew from an average of 35 minutes per individual per day at the beginning of 2023 to 39 minutes by December 2024, up by 13 per cent. Over this period, the average time spent viewing YouTube on a TV set increased by 57 per cent, from 11 minutes to 18 minutes per day, while viewing by 16-34s on TV sets increased by 47 per cent (14 minutes to 21 minutes), added the report.
During 2024, YouTube saw rises across numerous metrics, not just the traditional 16-34 year olds. Among all individuals, 41 per cent watched the service via their TV set, up from 34 per cent in 2023. The average daily time spent viewing YouTube on the TV for adults aged 55+ grew from an average of 6 minutes per individual at the beginning of 2023 to 11 minutes by December 2024, up by 97 per cent. The proportion of all in-home viewing of YouTube via the TV set for adults aged 55+ increased from 33 per cent in 2023 to 42 per cent in 2024.
Speaking about the report’s findings, Ed Leighton, Ofcom’s interim group director for strategy and research, said: “Scheduled TV is increasingly alien to younger viewers, with YouTube the first port of call for many when they pick up the TV remote. But we’re also seeing signs that older adults are turning to the platform as part of their daily media diet too.
“Public service broadcasters are recognising this shift—moving to meet audiences in the online spaces where they increasingly spend their time. But we need to see even more ambition in this respect to ensure that public service media that audiences value survives long into the future.”
Overall people spent an average of 4 hours 30 minutes per day watching TV and video content at home in 2024, said Ofcom.
The report also states that the proportion of UK households with an SVoD service in the first quarter of 2025 continues to plateau, and was at the same level (68 per cent) as it was in 2021. Two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+, with Netflix remaining the most subscribed-to service, accounting for nearly half of total SVoD viewing in 2024.
In terms of “traditional TV”, Ofcom said that around seven in ten viewers of public service broadcasters (PSBs) say they are satisfied with them overall, in line with previous years. Over 71 per cent of those surveyed by Ofcom said it is important that PSBs provide catch-up, on-demand or streaming services.
The full Media Nations Report is available to read here.
