Pandemic drives TV changes - 30 August 2021

Have the Covid-19 lockdowns increased your consumption of TV? According to Ofcom, the UK’s communication regulator, the answer is a resounding yes. Figures show that adults devoted nearly a third of their waking hours to watching TV and online videos in 2020. This daily average of five hours and 40 minutes was a 47 minute increase on 2019.

The average time spent watching conventional TV each day was just over three hours, mostly by people aged 45 and over. However, for the first time, there were more subscribers to Netflix than a cable or satellite TV account. Nearly 80 percent of households now have their TVs connected to the internet.

Time spent on video on demand services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video saw the highest growth. This rose almost twofold in 2020 to an estimated 65 minutes per person daily. Incredibly, Netflix streamed 96 percent of the most watched titles on any subscription service.

YouTube remained the most popular user-generated online video service, with users streaming its content for 41 minutes per 24 hours. However, usage of the video app TikTok also surged and by March 2021 its clips were being viewed by 31 percent of adults who were online.

Yih-Choung Teh, Ofcom's group director of research, said: "TV and online video have proved an important antidote to lockdown life, with people spending a third of their waking hours last year glued to screens for news and entertainment." He added that "The pandemic undoubtedly turbo-charged viewing to streaming services, with three in five UK homes now signed up."