Research
Study: UK lockdown
sees SvoD hours
double
A surge in screen time during
lockdown saw UK adults
spend 40% of their waking day
watching TV and online video
services, Ofcom has found in
its annual study of the nation’s
media habits.
People spend twice as much
time watching subscription
streaming services: 34 minutes
in 2019, and 1 hour 11 minutes
in April 2020.
As people across the UK
followed official health advice
to stay home during April 2020,
they kept themselves informed
and entertained by spending six
hours and 25 minutes each day
on average – or nearly 45 hours
a week – watching TV and online
video content – a rise of almost
a third (31%) on last year.
The biggest factor behind this
increase was people spending
twice as much time watching
subscription streaming services
such as Netflix, Disney+ and
Amazon Prime Video – one hour
11 minutes per day on average in
April 2020. The trend was even
more pronounced among 16-34s,
who streamed for an average two
hours each day.
Ofcom’s Media Nations
2020 report also finds that an
estimated 12m UK adults signed
up to a new video streaming
service during lockdown, of
whom around 3m had never
subscribed to one before.
A third of 55- to 64-yearolds,
and 15% of people aged
65 or over used subscription
streaming services in the early
weeks of lockdown – up from
25% and 12% respectively before
the pandemic.
Some of these were older
viewers who previously watched
only broadcast TV. One third
(32%) of 55-64 year olds,
and 15% of people aged 65+
used subscription streaming
services in the early weeks of
lockdown – up from 25% and
12% respectively before the
pandemic.
Disney+, which launched
on the first day of the UK’s
lockdown, made an immediate
impact. The new service
attracted 16% of online adults
by early July, surpassing NOW
TV (10%) to become the third
most-popular subscription
streaming service behind Netflix
(45%) and Amazon Prime Video
(39%).
Among children aged 3-11,
Disney+ was used in a third
of homes (32%) by June –
overtaking BBC iPlayer, which
saw use among these children
fall from 26% to 22% during the
spring.
The Prime Minister’s
broadcasts to the nation, on the
easing of lockdown in May and
the announcing of lockdown in
March, are the top two mostwatched
programmes in 2020.
The Queen’s address on April
5th is third.
The public service
broadcasters – the BBC, ITV,
STV, Channel 4 and Channel 5
– briefly achieved their highest
combined monthly share of
broadcast TV viewing in more
than six years in March (59%),
driven by a demand for trusted
news programmes as the
pandemic grew.
The BBC was the most
popular source of news and
information about Covid-19 –
used by 82% of adults during
the first week of lockdown.
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and
Channel 5 were trusted by
around eight in 10.
Broadcasters’ video-on
demand services have also seen
some success in lockdown.
Dramas Normal People
and Killing Eve helped BBC
iPlayer attract a record 570m
programme requests in May
2020 – 72% higher than in
May 2019. Similarly, Channel
4’s on-demand service, All 4,
generated 30% more views
among 16-34s in the first two
weeks of lockdown; and viewers
spent 82% more time on ITV
Hub.
But the boost to the PSBs’
audience figures during peaklockdown
was short-lived,
as the pandemic interrupted
production of soaps,
major sporting events and
entertainment shows. By June
2020, their combined monthly
share of broadcast TV viewing
fell to 55%, its lowest level since
August 2019.
The outlook for commercial
public service broadcasters
PSBs is especially tough, as they
manage cost-cutting measures
amid financial uncertainty. Their
cumulative revenues declined
by 3.5% in 2019 to £2.2bn, and
TV advertising revenues are
expected to fall 17-19% in 2020.
As lockdown measures
eased towards the end of June,
the uplift in viewing to video
streaming services and other nonbroadcast
content held steady, at
71% higher than the year before.
In contrast, by the end of June,
traditional broadcast TV viewing
declined from its peak in early
lockdown – falling 44 minutes
to 3 hours 2 minutes per day.
Broadcast TV viewing is now
comparably lower than it was in
2014-2017, although it remains
11% higher than this time last
year.
The overwhelming majority of
online adults signed up to Netflix
(96%), Amazon Prime Video (91%)
and Disney+ (84%) said they plan
to keep their subscriptions in the
months ahead.
And Brits’ adoption of
streaming services appears
likely to continue after
lockdown. The overwhelming
majority of online adults signed
up to Netflix (96%), Amazon
Prime Video (91%) and Disney+
(84%) said they plan to keep
their subscriptions in the
months ahead.
Similarly, more than half of
UK adults (55%) say that they
will continue to spend the
same amount of time watching
streamed content in future as
they did during lockdown.
“Lockdown led to a huge
rise in TV viewing and video
streaming,” notes Yih-Choung
Teh, Ofcom’s strategy and
research group director.
“The pandemic showed
public service broadcasting
at its best, delivering trusted
news and UK content that
viewers really value. But UK
broadcasters face a tough
advertising market, production
challenges and financial
uncertainty. So they need
to keep demonstrating that
value in the face of intense
competition from streaming
services.”
18 EUROMEDIA