New TV viewing trends take root in pandemic

TV viewing habits have been upended, and changing behaviours demand a new approach to TV planning, writes Sky Media’s Sarah Jones. (This is an excerpt from a longer Opinion piece. Click "View more" to read the full article.)

Different audiences are changing their viewing habits at different speeds based on their needs. The TV narrative has changed from assumptions around an ageing audience to younger audience viewing rising again. In fact, 2020 has the highest total TV set viewing levels on record for 16–34-year olds.

New habits show that TV is being viewed across different platforms and devices, but the traditional big screen experience still leads the way with 92% of viewing. This is helped by better connected platforms and players, and bigger, higher quality screens, meaning catch-up services are no longer restricted to laptops or tablets.

The shift towards video on-demand (VoD) has seen the greatest acceleration during the lockdown period, with a noticeable rise in solus viewing. With more people confined to their houses comes either a compromise in content viewing or watching content on your own terms, on your own device.

In 2020, we have seen the biggest growth on Sky Go across mobile phones – up 53%. Despite the flexibility to watch whenever and wherever, 82% of all Sky Go is watched at home. We will be watching this trend for further developments as lockdown measures ease again.