Broadcast TV has seen its biggest ever annual decline as viewers increasingly turn to more flexible options such as broadcaster video-on-demand platforms and streaming services,according to Ofcom’s latest Media Nations report.
Looking into the state of the TV, online video, radio and audio sectors, Ofcom has also found that only BBC One can still command a large enough audience to reach over half the viewing population each week.
The time that people spend watching broadcast TV has decreased by 12%, as has the average time that people spend viewing TV each day (down from 2 hours 59 minutes in 2021, to 2 hours 38 minutes in 2022).
Alarmingly for traditional broadcasters, the sector has seen a drop in audience numbers for the core over 65 bracket, which is down 6% on pre-pandemic levels. Ofcom’s findings suggests that these older viewers are increasingly diversifying and are now more likely to take up streaming platforms.
“Today’s viewers and listeners have an ‘all-you-can-eat’ buffet of broadcasting and online content to choose from, and there’s more competition for our attention than ever,” Ofcom group director of strategy and research, Yih-Choung Teh said.
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“Our traditional broadcasters are seeing steep declines in viewing to their scheduled, live programmes – including among typically loyal older audiences – and soaps and news programmes don’t have the mass-audience pulling power they once had.
He added: “But despite this, public service broadcasters are still unrivalled in bringing the nation together at important cultural and sporting moments, while their on-demand players are seeing positive growth as they digitalise their services to meet audience needs.”
Significantly, adults under 25 have decreased their average daily broadcast viewing by 73% since 2012, with 16-24 only watching an average of 39 minutes per day, mainly tuning in for sports, popular entertainment and reality programming.
Although programmes with mass viewership have halved over the past eight years, they are not an indication of viewers moving away from TV formats – but rather an indication of just how fragmented the landscape has become, with Netlfix only registering a fraction of broadcast TV’s mass viewership figures per programme.
