Insights Ofcom publishes its annual Media Nations report

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According to Ofcom’s Media Nations report, around half of all UK homes now subscribe to TV streaming services, revealing rapid shifts in the nation’s viewing habits.

The report is a comprehensive study of major trends in UK television, radio and audio. Findings include:

  • the number of UK households signed up to the most popular streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV and Disney Life) increased from 11.2 million (39%) in 2018 to 13.3 million (47%) in 2019;
  • while traditional TV viewing continued to decline in 2018, the UK’s public service broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C) showed more than 100 times more original, home-grown shows than the overseas streaming platforms;
  • traditional viewing still accounts for most TV time (69% or three hours 12 minutes, on average, per day), but this fell by nine minutes in 2017, and by 11 minutes last year; and
  • viewers now watch 50 minutes less traditional TV each day than in 2010. This shift is most pronounced among younger people (16-24s), whose viewing of traditional TV has halved in that time.

To read Ofcom’s news release in full and for a link to the report, click here.

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