In a statistic likely to have bowled over any parent in the mid-90s, less than half of 16-to-24-year-olds tuned into broadcast television in an average week in 2023.
According to newly published Ofcom data, it marks the first year of sub-50% engagement in this demographic, representing a terminal decline in broadcast TV viewership numbers.
In a single decade, daily broadcast TV viewing by 16-24s has fallen by 78%, from 2 hours 29 minutes to just 33 minutes.
Of course, 90s parents were blissfully unaware of the impending rise of streaming services like Netflix and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube.
The evolution of Brits’ viewing habits in the digital era has actually resulted in an increase in screen time across all demographics, with Ofcom citing a 2% rise since 2022 to four hours and 31 minutes per day.
National broadcaster the BBC has struggled to keep up with this existential shift in viewing habits, with the data suggesting a consistent decline in viewership among younger audiences.
While the BBC’s iPlayer streaming service and ITVX have gained traction, uptake has been sluggish among the younger cohort.
The largest year-on-year increase in viewership on these platforms was among older audiences, with 55-64s and over 74s increasing their consumption by 32% and 43% respectively.
In contrast, younger audiences had the slowest growth in 2023, with viewing up by just 9% among 16-24s.
Ofcom said there was an increasingly negative sentiment towards these Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) services.
For BBC iPlayer, a poll found that 22% “prefer to watch other services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ etc”; and 18% were “not interested in the programmes available”’ while 14% said they “don’t have access to this service”.
Expect more BBC cuts
It is an undeniably worrisome trend for the national broadcaster.
Earlier this month, the BBC reported a 30% decline in licence fee income since 2011, when Netflix first went live in the UK.
The broadcaster collected £3.66 billion in licence fee income in its 2023/24 financial year, down 2% from the previous year.