Ofcom Details Viewing Surge During Lockdown

People in the U.K. were spending an average of six hours and 25 minutes each day watching TV and online video content during lockdown measures in April, a total of almost 45 hours a week, according to Ofcom.

U.K. residents spent about 40 percent of their day watching TV and online services, Ofcom said. Of the six hours and 25 minutes a day of viewing time, 59 percent was on broadcast content (live TV, recorded playback, BVOD). However, of the 16 to 34 set, which spent six hours and 21 minutes on TV and online video, just 31 percent was broadcast content, with 120 minutes on SVOD and 85 minutes on YouTube.

The Media Nations 2020 report also found that an estimated 12 million people signed up to a new video streaming service during lockdown, with around 3 million subscribing to one of these services for the first time. Disney+ surpassed NOW TV to become the third-most-popular subscription streaming service behind Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Meanwhile, the public-service broadcasters had their highest combined monthly share of broadcast TV viewing in more than six years in March, driven by a demand for news.

Post-lockdown, the trend towards viewing streaming has held steady, Ofcom says, while traditional broadcast TV viewing declined from its peak in early lockdown. Ofcom says an “overwhelming majority” of online adults who signed up to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ said they plan to keep their subscriptions in the months ahead.