UK viewing habits are changing as around half of homes are now subscribing to TV streaming services. The number of viewers were signed up to the popular platforms: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV and DisneyLife. The use of streaming services has increased from 11.2 million in 2018 to 13.3 million in 2019 so far.
Top streaming programmes in the UK were Friends and You which are both on Netflix. For Amazon it was The Grand Tour.
Shutterstock.com
Ofcom found that traditional viewing still accounts for 69% of TV watching time but the figure is slowly declining.
On average people in the UK watch 3 hours and 12 minutes of traditional TV which is 11 minutes less than last year. People ages 65-74 years old spend on average 5 hours and 33 minutes watching traditional TV per day this in in comparison to 16-24 year olds who are only spending 1 hour 25 minutes watching traditional TV.
Changes in viewing habits, average minutes watched per day in the UK
Ofcom
Yih-Choung Teh, strategy and research group director at Ofcom, said: “The way we watch TV is changing faster than ever before. In the space of seven years, streaming services have grown from nothing to reach nearly half of British homes.
“But traditional broadcasters still have a vital role to play, producing the kind of brilliant UK programmes that overseas tech giants struggle to match.
“We want to sustain that content for future generations, so we’re leading a nationwide debate on the future of public service broadcasting.”
Research has found that two in five adults now consider streaming services to be their main way of watching TV and films.
TV is still a big part for many people as it is where people go to watch shows they like and ones they want to see as soon as they come out such as Love Island and Line of Duty. BBC One’s Line of Duty is the most-watched programme overall this year with 12.1 million tuning in to the final episodes, this shows that people are still going to the traditional way of watching programmes.
