Youtube becomes UK’s second most-watched media platform
Youtube has overtaken ITV to become the second most-watched media brand in the UK – behind the BBC – thanks to an ever increasing loyalty from young audiences, according to an annual report from Ofcom.
Viewers spent an average of four hours and 30 minutes a day watching either the TV or other video content in 2024, the media watchdog said, with 56 per cent of viewing hours spent watching linear broadcast TV.
But on average people spent four per cent less time watching broadcast TV than last year as all age groups in the UK apart from those aged 75 and over increased their interest in on-demand television.
Big streamers continued to eat into legacy outlets’ market share across the board, but Ofcom found Youtube was “leading the charge” in the battle for Brits’ attention. Viewers spent an average of 39 minutes a day watching the Google-owned platform at home last year, 16 minutes of which was on their home’s smart television.
Younger audiences unsurprisingly drove the uptick in use of Youtube. Those aged between 16 and 34 spent an average of 18 minutes a day watching content on the site.
But even viewers over 55 doubled their use of the platform on their TV sets in 2024, watching 11 minutes of content on the platform a day via their TV sets, Ofcom said.
“Scheduled TV is increasingly alien to younger viewers, with YouTube the first port of call for many when they pick up the TV remote,” said Ed Leighton, Ofcom’s interim group director for strategy. “But we’re also seeing signs that older adults are turning to the platform as part of their daily media diet too. “
The impact of Youtube’s growing role as a broadcaster has come under increasing scrutiny from the media regulator in recent months. Officials used a recent report on the future of public service broadcasting to called on the platform it to give more prominence to public service content to try and safeguard the futures some of the UK’s publicly owned broadcasters.
The watchdog suggested legacy broadcasters should “work urgently” with execs at the Silicon Valley firm, to try and ensure their content is “prominent and easy to find” within the reams of content added to Youtube every day.
But Ofcom also told public service broadcasters their future was “at risk” if they don’t create more content geared to the online platform.
Gavin & Stacey, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Mr Bates vs The Post Office were the most-watched TV programmes and films of 2024.
Ofcom also found listening habits underwent significant change last year. Over nine in 10 adults listen to some form of audio content each week, with younger audiences listening to more