Traditional TV sees biggest fall in viewers since Ofcom records began
Big events, such as the Queen’s funeral and England football matches, mean public service broadcasters ITV and BBC still dominate the charts when it comes to the most-watched programmes – but generally, viewers are turning to other sources of entertainment.
Viewers are switching off traditional TV at record rates, according to a new Ofcom report.
With more competition than ever from streamers, the proportion of people watching a programme on broadcast TV each week dropped from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022 – the biggest decline since records began, the watchdog said.
Younger viewers have long been turning to platforms such as Netflix and Apple, as well as social media sites such as YouTube and TikTok.
But for the first time, Ofcom said, there is now evidence of a significant decline in average daily broadcast TV viewing among “core” older audiences (aged 65+) – a drop of 10% year on year, and down 6% on pre-pandemic levels.
Another notable shift, the Media Nations 2023 report found, is the average time spent watching broadcast television per person per day – which fell from two hours 59 minutes in 2021 to two hours 38 minutes in 2022.
There was some good news for public service broadcasters, with the research showing they still dominate the UK’s most-watched list thanks to big TV moments such as England’s World Cup matches and the Queen’s jubilee and funeral.
Top 10 most watched programmes of 2022
England v France: World Cup quarter final | 16.1m | ITV |
The Queen’s funeral | 13.2m | BBC 1 |
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee | 13.2m | BBC 1 |
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! | 12.5m | ITV |
The Tourist | 11.4m | BBC 1 |
Happy New Year Live! | 11.3m | BBC 1 |
England v Germany: Women’s Euro 2022 final | 11.2m | BBC 1 |
Trigger Point | 10.9m | ITV |
Strictly Come Dancing | 10.7m | BBC 1 |
The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe | 10.1m | ITV |
However, the number of programmes with more than four million TV viewers has more than halved over the past eight years, from 2,490 in 2014, to 1,184 in 2022.