Less than half of young people in UK watch live television, says Ofcom

The numbers of young people tuning into live TV in an average week has dropped significantly as they increasingly turn to video-streaming platforms, according to a study.

But while traditional television is losing its grip on household leisure time, radio is making a comeback, says the study.

Research by the media regulator Ofcom found that less than half – 48% – of young people watched live TV each week in 2023, droping from 76% in 2018, with most turning to platforms such as YouTube and TikTok instead.

Those aged between 16 and 24 were found to watch just 20 minutes of television each week, while those aged between 25 and 34 watch live television for 35 minutes in the average week.

As many as 93% of those aged 16 to 24 watch a video on a streaming platform in the average week, while 63% of those aged between 25 and 34 also opt for the likes of TikTok and YouTube over traditional TV.

Those in the 16-24 age group reported watching one hour and 33 minutes of content on video-sharing platforms, while those in the 25 to 34 age group reported watching an hour and three minutes of shared content each week.

Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence, said: “Gen Z and Alpha are used to swiping and streaming, not flipping through broadcast TV channels.
They crave the flexibility, immediacy and choice that on-demand services offer, spending over three hours a day watching video, but only 20 minutes of live TV.”

Middle-aged viewers, aged between 45 and 54, have also begun to turn away from linear television, with viewing rates in the age group falling from 89% to 84% in a year.

However, despite figures showing that traditional viewing is falling, people in the UK watched more TV and video content at home in 2023 than in the previous year, averaging 4 hours and 31 minutes a day.

Ofcom said the TV set “remains at the heart of household viewing”, but the increase in its use was being primarily driven by a rise in the viewing of video-sharing platforms, which rose by 12% between 2022 and 2023.

There has also been an increase in those viewing broadcasters’ on-demand services such as ITVX and BBC iPlayer, which rose 29% between 2022 and 2023.

Radio had its highest number of weekly listeners across all devices in the past 20 years in the first quarter of 2024 with just under 50 million tuning in.

It was attracting new audiences and increasing its average hours per listener, with just over seven in 10 people aged 15 and above tuning into commercial stations at least once a week.

Streaming services had a marginal rise in viewers, up 6% between 2022 and 2023, with Netflix remaining the most popular service – watched for an average of 21 minutes per person per day.

Traditional television remains popular among older audiences, with those aged 65 and above watching more than four hours of television every week.