Media Nations report reveals BVoD enjoys growth at linear TV’s expense.

The proportion of young people watching linear TV each week has dropped below half for the first time, according to Ofcom.

The regulator’s latest Media Nations report shows that only 48% of 16-24 year-olds tuned into broadcast TV in an average week in 2023, driving a second successive record drop in overall linear viewing to 75%.

According to the report, the proportion of 16-24 year olds watching broadcast TV dipped by six percentage points for the third consecutive year, down from 54% in 2022. The figure has fallen by more than a quarter (28%) within the past five years, with just over three-quarters (76%) of 16-24s watching linear TV in an average week in 2018.

Incidentally, the weekly reach of linear TV dropped by nearly the same amount among 45-54-year-olds, falling by five percentage points from 89% to 84%.

As well as watching live TV less frequently, 16–24-year-olds are also watching for shorter periods. They spent just 20 minutes per day watching live TV in 2023, nearly half the 39-minute daily average in 2022. They are spending three times as long each day (one hour and 33 minutes) watching video-sharing platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.

Although the overall decline in broadcast TV’s weekly reach dropped a further four percentage points from last year’s record dip 79% – the steepest decline since records began – it fell at a much slower rate in 2023. Figures are down 6% year-on-year, much better than the 12% fall the previous year.

BVoD growth

In contrast to linear declines, the UK BVoD market enjoyed notable growth.

Overall viewing increased, driven by broadcasters’ own services such as BBC iPlayer and ITVX, alongside platforms like YouTube. Daily BVoD viewing grew by more than a quarter (29%) to 20 minutes per person

To complement this growth, the report showed a rise in BVoD revenues which were up by nearly a fifth (16%) to £980m. But amid a TV ad spend declining by 14% to £3.9bn, total TV ad spend across linear and online fell by nearly a tenth (8.9%) to £4.9bn.

This article first appeared on our sister site, Broadcast.