UK consumers are watching less TV than before but they are viewing more of it on different platforms and showing an enthusiastic appetite for SVOD in particular, according to new Touchpoints data from the IPA.

The TouchPoints Daily Life data released today are based on a representative sample of almost 6,000 adults aged 15+ living in Great Britain. Each respondent kept a diary detailing their activities on a half hourly basis over a seven-day period and completed a questionnaire covering everything from media behaviour to online shopping.

Among the media findings:

Consumers are spending less time watching less television/video

People still consume more television than any other medium and television reaches 99% of the population. But the average viewing time of 4 hours 10 minutes per day in an average week is 3% down on 2018. Peak viewing time for all adults remains at 8.30pm-9.00pm.

Consumers are watching television/video via a number of platforms

Watching TV live on a TV set is still the most popular way of viewing, with 88% of adults watching in this way each week for 2 hours 59 minutes per average day (down 6% year-on-year). But other options are increasingly popular, with SVOD and BVOD figures growing steadily.

Netflix drives SVOD, BBC iPlayer BVOD

Netflix is now watched by 37% of all adults, up from 29% in 2018 and by 63% of 15-34 year olds, up from 54% in 2018. Hours of viewing have also increased, to 1 hour and 4 minutes a day for all adults (two minutes more than 2018) and to 1 hour and 13 minutes a day for 15-34s (four minutes more than 2018). Amazon Prime is also growing but more slowly, from a 12% weekly reach for all adults in 2018 to 14% in 2019.

BBC iPlayer continues to be the most popular Broadcast Video-on-Demand channel, delivering the highest weekly reach for all adults of 27%, rising to 29% for 15-34s.

More 15-34 year-olds watch TV/video content via their mobile phones

Most (89%) adults’ video consumption is still via a TV set, but that’s true of just 72% of 15-34s; 13% of their viewing is via a laptop, 10% via mobile phone and 5% via tablet. And when TouchPoints asked about whether people watch TV/Video via a small screen with at least one other person, this was measured at 19% for all adults for 23 minutes a day and 34% for 15-34-year-olds for 26 minutes a day.


“Media content is now a “pick and mix” option, with a true combination of everything,” said Belinda Beeftink, Research Director, IPA.

“There is no doubt that subscription model broadcasters are impacting the way we view, “ she added, but she also questioned how companies with large production budgets would be able to continue with this model if subscriptions level off or decrease; meanwhile, the advent of new services such as Britbox will add another layer of complexity.

“The implication of all of this for advertisers is that it is more important than ever to understand the media landscape and how it is evolving,” she said.

Sourced from IPA