WIREDGOV

The media diets of viewers and listeners in the UK appear to be more diverse and fragmented than ever, according to Ofcom’s latest annual report on the TV, online video, radio and audio sectors.

• Broadcast TV’s weekly audience reach sees steepest annual decline since records began, while older audiences’ daily viewing drops at fastest rate ever
• Number of TV programmes pulling in 4m+ viewers halves since 2014, but public service broadcasters still dominate most-watched list with valued national TV moments
• Teens and young adults spend an hour a day on TikTok, with ‘snackable’ short-form content particularly popular
• Commercial radio riding a wave in its 50th year, while smart speakers and podcasts see growth in use

As competition for the nation’s attention intensifies, Media Nations 2023 finds that the proportion of viewers who tune in to traditional broadcast TV each week has seen the sharpest ever annual fall – from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022. BBC One remains the only channel to reach more than half of the viewing population every week.

A similar decline is evident in the average time that viewers spend watching broadcast TV each day – down from 2 hours 59 minutes in 2021, to 2 hours 38 minutes in 2022 (-12%). For the first time, there is evidence of a significant decline in average daily broadcast TV viewing among ‘core’ older audiences (aged 65+) – a drop of 8% year on year, and down 6% on pre-pandemic levels.

Our data also suggests that older viewers are diversifying their viewing and becoming more likely to take up streaming services, although household take-up of these services overall appears to be plateauing. The proportion of over-64s subscribing to Disney+, for example, increased from 7% in 2022 to 12% in 2023.

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