IPA TouchPoints has revealed UK mobile phone use has overtaken TV watching for the first time.
According to the 2025 dataset, average mobile phone use by British adults (over 15) has reached 3 hours 21 minutes per day. The same dataset shows the average daily TV watching time to be 3 hours and 16 minutes. This marks the first such shift in IPA TouchPoints 20 year history of monitoring media consumption among the British public.
The past decade has seen a steady increase in mobile phone usage from 1 hour 17 minutes per day in 2015, driving what the company said is a “significant media shift”. TV viewing has remained relatively stable, with the daily average ten years ago being 3 hours 23 minutes.
A generational divide is visible within the data, with the shift being driven by younger generations. The 15-24 age group now spends an average 4 hours 49 minutes per day using mobile phones and only 1 hour 49 minutes watching TV. This is in marked contrast to the 65-74 age group, which spends 4 hours 40 minutes watching TV and only 1 hour 37 minutes using mobile devices.
The data showed TV viewing exhibits a viewing peak in the evening, while mobile usage tends to be consistent across the day. Additionally, the findings demonstrated a combined viewing figure including TVs, laptops, mobiles, tablets and games consoles of 7 hours 27 minutes per day, up from 6 hours and 36 minutes in 2015.
Dan Flynn, deputy research director, IPA, commented, “It’s a clear signal of how embedded mobile phones have become in our daily lives – always on, always within reach and increasingly central to how we consume content, connect and unwind. What sets TouchPoints apart is its unparalleled ability to show not just what media people are using, but when, where, how, and crucially, how they’re feeling when they do. It is this level of granularity that makes TouchPoints such a vital tool for brands and agencies looking to navigate today’s complex media landscape.”
