TV habits reaching tipping point

Viewing of the market leader in paid-for on-demand, Netflix, was up 28% year-on-year and has risen 85% in two years. The streaming service is now watched by 37% of all adults. It is viewed by 63% of 15- to 34-year-olds, up from 54% in 2018.

Watching TV live on a TV set remains the most popular way of viewing with 88% of adults watching this way each week for 2 hours 59 minutes per average day – although this is down 6% year-on-year.

Younger viewers watch more on their mobiles than adults – 10% of the time 15- to 34-year-olds spend watching TV/video is done via their mobiles compared with 3% of all adults.

With a fall of 3% year-on-year, people are watching on average 4hrs 10 minutes a day.

The most popular live television channel is BBC One which reaches 73% of the population, who spend 1 hour 7 minutes on average watching per day. This falls to 52% reach for 15- to 34-year-olds who watch BBC One for an average 31 minutes per day.

Belinda Beeftink, research director, IPA said: “Looking at the past few years, there is a real sense that we’ve reached a tipping point in how and why we consume media the way we do. Competition for our time is becoming ever fiercer, as is the choice of both the platform and the device on which we access it. Media content is now a ‘pick and mix’ option, with a true combination of everything.

“There is no doubt that subscription model broadcasters are impacting the way we view, but how long will companies with large production budgets be able to continue with this model if subscriptions level off or decrease? What will be the impact of ‘Britbox', due for launch later this year?”