TV viewing spans traditional broadcasts, broadcaster video-on-demand, subscription services, advertising-supported platforms and video-sharing sites. The figures below distinguish measured in-home or television-screen use from survey responses, and identify the population and period for every result.
Key TV Viewing Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2023, UK individuals aged 4 and over watched 4 hours 31 minutes of TV and video content at home per day.
- In 2023, UK in-home TV and video viewing rose 2% year over year, equal to a six-minute daily increase.
- In 2023, SVoD and AVoD represented 14% of UK in-home video viewing among individuals aged 4 and over.
- In 2023, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ accounted for 95% of UK SVoD/AVoD viewing in the UK measurement.
- In 2023, UK broadcast TV weekly reach was 75% among individuals aged 4 and over.
- In 2023, only 48% of UK people aged 16–24 tuned into broadcast TV in an average week.
- In 2023, measured broadcaster content made up 57% of UK in-home video viewing among individuals aged 4 and over.
- In 2023, live TV represented 76% of video consumption among UK people over 74.
- In 2023, only 19% of UK 16–24s’ in-home video time went to broadcasters.
- In 2023, UK daily broadcaster video-on-demand viewing rose 29% to 20 minutes per person.
- In 2023, UK 16–24-year-olds spent 46% of in-home video time on video-sharing platforms.
- In 2023, UK adults aged 25–34 watched 1 hour 5 minutes of SVoD/AVoD per day.
- In 2023, TV sets accounted for 84% of UK in-home video viewing.
- Between the beginning of 2022 and December 2023, average UK YouTube viewing on a TV set rose 70%, from 9 to 15 minutes per person per day.
- In July 2024, streaming represented 41.4% of U.S. TV viewing in Nielsen’s Gauge.
- In April 2025, 83% of U.S. adults said they had ever watched programming on streaming services.
- In April 2025, 36% of U.S. adults said they subscribed to cable or satellite television at home.
- In July 2024, YouTube accounted for 10.4% of U.S. TV usage measured by Nielsen.
Contents
- Overall TV and video viewing time
- Broadcast TV reach and live viewing trends
- Streaming service and platform statistics
- TV viewing by age group
- TV screens and connected online video
- Audience events and industry outcomes
Overall TV Viewing Statistics: Time Spent at Home
Ofcom’s Media Nations: UK 2024 measured in-home viewing for UK individuals aged 4 and over. It reported 4 hours 31 minutes per person per day in 2023, with total in-home TV and video viewing up 2% from 2022, or six additional minutes per day; the metric excludes out-of-home viewing. Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024
The composition of that viewing is changing, even while the overall home-viewing total remains large:
- SVoD and AVoD together represented 14% of UK in-home video viewing in 2023, and their viewing rose 6% year over year to 38 minutes per person per day.
- Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ accounted for 95% of UK SVoD/AVoD viewing in 2023.
- UK total commercial TV and online video revenue rose 0.5% to £15.6 billion in 2023, an industry outcome rather than a household viewing-time measure.
- Online video revenue increased 20% to £5.4 billion in 2023, while commercial broadcast and pay-TV revenue declined 7.5% to £10.2 billion.
These categories are not interchangeable: Ofcom groups subscription and advertising-supported services together as SVoD/AVoD, and classifies NOW viewing within BVoD in this report.
Broadcast TV Statistics: Reach, Live Viewing and Broadcaster Trends
Weekly reach measures whether someone watched at least 15 consecutive minutes in an average week. By that definition, UK broadcast TV reach fell from 79% in 2022 to 75% in 2023 among individuals aged 4 and over, while broadcast-TV viewing time declined 6% year over year. Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024
| UK broadcast measure | 2022 | 2023 | Population or definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly broadcast-TV reach | 79% | 75% | Individuals aged 4+; at least 15 consecutive minutes |
| Measured broadcaster share of in-home video | 61% | 57% | Individuals aged 4+ |
| Children’s broadcast-TV viewing | 20% decline | 6% decline | Year-over-year change |
| Broadcast-TV viewing among people aged 65–74 | 21% decline | 5% decline | Year-over-year change |
Measured broadcaster content includes live TV, recorded playback and BVoD. The 2023 figure therefore captures more than simultaneous broadcast viewing, and should not be read as a total share for all video services.
Age differences are pronounced. Only 48% of UK people aged 16–24 tuned into broadcast TV in an average week in 2023, while live TV supplied 20 minutes per day for that age group and broadcasters received 19% of their in-home video time.
Older viewers remained much more connected to live and broadcaster content. Live TV accounted for 76% of video consumption among UK people over 74 and 63% among those aged 65–74; broadcaster content including live, playback and BVoD represented 91% and 83%, respectively.
TV Streaming Statistics: BVoD, SVoD, AVoD and Services
Broadcaster video-on-demand grew within the UK broadcaster category. Daily BVoD viewing rose 29% to 20 minutes per person in 2023, and BVoD’s share of total broadcaster viewing increased from 10% in 2022 to 13% in 2023. Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024
| UK BVoD viewing | 2023 result | Change from 2022 | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily BVoD viewing | 20 minutes | 29% increase | Individuals aged 4+ |
| BVoD share of broadcaster viewing | 13% | Up from 10% | Individuals aged 4+ |
| Daily BVoD viewing | 28 minutes | 32% increase | People aged 55–64 |
| Daily BVoD viewing | 24 minutes | 43% increase | People over 74 |
| Daily BVoD viewing | 12 minutes | 9% increase | People aged 16–24 |
BVoD includes broadcaster services such as BBC iPlayer and ITVX. The separate SVoD/AVoD category includes subscription and advertising-supported services, so the categories should not be added together without accounting for the report’s definitions.
U.S. survey data provides a different view of streaming adoption and attitudes. Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel surveyed U.S. adults from April 14–20, 2025, asking about self-reported use rather than measured viewing time. Pew Research Center, 2025 American Trends Panel Wave 168 April 2025 Internet Topline
- 83% of U.S. adults said they had ever watched programming on streaming services, while 36% said they subscribed to cable or satellite television at home.
- Among U.S. adults who used streaming services, 44% said the services were worth the cost, 31% said they were not worth the cost and 25% were unsure.
- Reported ever-watch figures were 72% for Netflix, 67% for Amazon Prime Video, 48% for Disney+, 52% for Hulu, 25% for Apple TV+, 41% for Peacock, 44% for Paramount+, 41% for Max and 21% for ESPN+.
- 26% of U.S. streaming users said they used a password belonging to someone outside their household.
- 40% of U.S. streaming users were extremely or very satisfied with the programming they watched, while 50% were somewhat satisfied.
- Among U.S. adults who did not currently use streaming services, 43% said they had watched programming on a streaming service in the past; that subgroup had 1,346 respondents.
- 65% of U.S. adults said they were extremely or very likely to watch programming on streaming services in the next year, an intention measure rather than a forecast of actual use.
TV Viewing Statistics by Age Group
Age is one of the clearest dividing lines in the available viewing data. In 2023, UK 16–24-year-olds spent 1 hour 33 minutes per day on video-sharing platforms, equal to 46% of their in-home video time; those platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Twitch. Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024
| UK age group | Video or service measure | 2023 result |
|---|---|---|
| Children | Video-sharing platforms’ share of in-home video time | 40% |
| Ages 16–24 | Video-sharing platforms’ daily time | 1 hour 33 minutes |
| Ages 16–24 | Video-sharing platforms’ share of in-home video time | 46% |
| Ages 25–34 | SVoD/AVoD daily time | 1 hour 5 minutes |
| Ages 25–34 | SVoD/AVoD share of in-home video time | 28% |
SVoD/AVoD viewing grew by more than 10% year over year among UK people aged 55–74 and among UK children in 2023. These are combined age-band growth findings, not separate service-level forecasts.
The age pattern does not mean older viewers avoided online services. BVoD viewing rose 32% to 28 minutes per day among UK people aged 55–64 and 43% to 24 minutes among people over 74, while 16–24s’ BVoD viewing rose 9% to 12 minutes per day.
TV Screen Use for Online Video and Connected Viewing
Television sets remained the dominant in-home video device in the UK in 2023, accounting for 84% of total in-home video viewing among individuals aged 4 and over. The device can therefore remain central even when the content originates from online services. Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024
- TV-set viewing represented 85% of UK in-home SVoD/AVoD viewing in 2023, up from 81% in 2022.
- TV-set viewing represented 34% of UK in-home YouTube viewing in 2023, up from 29% in 2022.
- Total in-home YouTube use rose from 31 minutes per person per day at the beginning of 2022 to 38 minutes by December 2023, a reported 20% increase across devices.
- Average UK YouTube viewing on a TV set rose from 9 to 15 minutes per person per day between the beginning of 2022 and December 2023, a reported 70% increase.
These figures describe device share and measured use inside homes, not household TV ownership. They also show why “television viewing” and “broadcast viewing” are different measures: a TV set may display a broadcaster, a streaming service or user-uploaded online video.
TV Viewing Audience Events and Industry Outcomes
Nielsen’s July 2024 Gauge measured U.S. consumption through television screens during four weeks from July 1 through July 28. Streaming represented 41.4% of U.S. TV viewing, the largest share recorded for any viewing format at that time, and streaming levels were more than 5% higher than in June. Nielsen, “July Exhibits Rare Upswing in TV Viewing, Amplified by Streaming and First Days of Summer Olympics, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge”
| U.S. TV-screen measure | July 2024 result | Comparison or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming share | 41.4% | Four-week Gauge interval |
| Broadcast share | 20.3% | Up 5% year over year |
| Cable share | 26.7% | Category share |
| YouTube share of TV usage | 10.4% | Up 0.5 percentage points from June |
| Peacock share of TV viewing | 1.5% | Up 0.3 percentage points from June |
Total U.S. TV usage rose 2.3% from June 2024 and 3.5% from July 2023. The Paris Olympics affected the period: broadcast viewing exceeded 22% of total TV in Nielsen’s final week of July, and the largest Olympic broadcast audience in the report averaged 19 million viewers on NBC on July 28.
Platform and program results also moved with the event-heavy month:
- Peacock usage increased 33% month over month in July 2024.
- House of the Dragon generated 4.7 billion U.S. streaming viewing minutes, Bluey generated 4.3 billion and The Boys generated 4.2 billion during July 2024.
- Ten U.S. streaming titles exceeded 1 billion viewing minutes during one Nielsen Streaming Top 10 week in July 2024.
- U.S. cable-news viewing rose 23% from June to July 2024 and 52% from July 2023; Fox News Channel accounted for 24 of the 25 most-watched U.S. cable telecasts in Nielsen’s July report.
The Nielsen results are period-specific observations, and the Olympics are explicitly noted as an event effect. They should not be treated as a general forecast for every month or as directly comparable with Ofcom’s UK in-home measures or Pew’s self-reported U.S. survey percentages.