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The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today published its Media Nations 2025 report, which reveals how linear TV viewing continues to decline in favour of broadband-based video streaming platforms (particularly YouTube and Netflix). But broadcast TV currently still accounts for the majority (56%) of in-home viewing (down from 57% last year).
The full report covers a mass of different aspects and figures for national TV, video, radio and audio consumption, but we’ll only focus on a few of the headline details below. For example, individuals (aged 4+) spent on average 4 hours 30 minutes per day watching video content at home in 2024, only one minute less than in 2023.
The humble TV set also remains central to video viewing in the home, with some 84% of in-home video viewing taking place on it. But people also spent 4% less time watching broadcast TV on TV sets than in
2023.
The BBC was still the most-watched broadcaster/service in 2024 among all individuals, accounting for 19% of all in-home video viewing, which was followed by YouTube and ITV. But among young adults aged 16-34 and children 4-15, YouTube was the most-watched service, accounting for 22% of video viewing for the former and 28% for the latter. Netflix was the next most-watched service for both age groups, accounting for 13% of video viewing.
However, a small proportion of audiences (7%) did not watch any PSB content on TV sets in Q1 2025. They tended to be younger and less likely than the average population to have traditional TV platforms like Freeview (through an aerial), cable or satellite, opting for TV delivered over the internet. They watched significantly less broadcast content and any video in the home overall, mainly viewing YouTube and other VSPs (78% of their total in-home video viewing). SVoD/AVoD viewing took up the next largest proportion of their viewing (17%). Netflix was their most viewed SVoD/AVoD but they watched less of it than the non-PSB viewers group in Q1 2023.
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.”
Elsewhere, the proportion of UK households receiving any subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service in Q1 2025 continues to plateau, and was at the same level as it was (at 68%) in 2021. Some two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+. Netflix remains the most subscribed-to service, present in almost six in ten UK households and it accounted for nearly half of total SVoD viewing in 2024.
In addition to cultivating direct-to-consumer relationships, SVoD platforms are increasingly leveraging bundling partnerships to broaden their reach. This includes integration with pay-TV operators, such as Sky (Sky Broadband) and Virgin Media offering customers the option to add on SVoD subscriptions, and telecom providers bundling services with mobile or broadband plans, like O2’s inclusion of Disney+ with selected mobile packages.
According to Ofcom’s VoD Survey, 30% of Netflix subscribers now pay for their subscription as part of their household pay-TV service bill, or as part of a bundle with another service. The equivalent figure was nearly as high for Disney+ subscribers (27%), but lower for Amazon Prime Video subscribers (13%). So clearly those telecoms providers that allow you to bundled streaming subscriptions have had an impact.
Finally, it’s worth noting that consumer expenditure on recorded music in the UK continued its steady growth in 2024, rising by 5.7% year-on-year to reach £2.36bn. This reflects the ongoing strength of subscription
streaming, modest gains in physical formats (mainly vinyl LPs), and a continued decline in digital music download revenues.
Not that our readers will care, but Gavin & Stacey, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Mr Bates vs The Post Office were the most-watched TV programmes/films of 2024. Broadcasters accounted for half of the top ten most-viewed titles in 2024, taking the top three positions. Gavin & Stacey: The Finale was the most-watched programme of the year, averaging 18.6 million viewers across BBC One and BBC iPlayer on TV sets.