Younger UK viewers turn away from traditional TV channels

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Less than half of young audiences in the UK watch broadcast television weekly, the first time that a majority have tuned out of traditional channels, according to a study by the media regulator.

Last year, 48 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds tuned in to regular broadcast services in an average week, a record low that compares with 76 per cent in 2018, Ofcom found in its annual review, published on Wednesday.

“Gen Z and Alpha are used to swiping and streaming, not flipping through broadcast TV channels,” said Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence.

Scheduled terrestrial television is losing its appeal among young audiences as video-sharing platforms such as YouTube gain popularity among a generation used to curating their own viewing habits. The streaming service is increasingly being watched on traditional TV sets.

Children aged from 4 to 15 years are also sitting down at scheduled times less often, with 55 per cent watching live and catch-up broadcast television each week last year, compared with 81 per cent five years earlier.

Even fewer Gen Z viewers engaged with those services; they watched for 33 minutes a day, down 16 per cent from a year earlier, Ofcom said in its report. However, they watched video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and TikTok for three times longer than traditional TV.

“YouTube’s growth poses a further challenge to UK free-to-air broadcasters who rely heavily on advertising,” said Paolo Pescatore, founder and TMT analyst at PP Foresight.

YouTube, which is pushing more into sports, told the Financial Times more than 35bn hours of such content was viewed in the past year, up 45 per cent on the previous year.

Pescatore added YouTube’s continued dominance coupled with its relationships with brands “could be the nail in the coffin for UK broadcasters”.

The BBC last week planned to cut 500 jobs as it seeks more cost savings after a real-term fall in its funding from the licence fee over the past decade.

Ofcom’s research highlighted a generational divide with about 95 per cent of audiences aged over 65 watching broadcast TV each week. Meanwhile, the fall in weekly reach among middle-aged viewers accelerated, declining from 89 per cent to 84 per cent in 2023.

Still, analysts believe the decline among younger viewers is “slowing”, with the use of streaming and video-sharing services “plateauing”.

By the end of the decade the decline in watching TV from broadcasters “won’t be anywhere near the drop that has happened recently”, said Tom Harrington, TV analyst at Enders Analysis.

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