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Data: Live TV streamed over broadband quadruples
Everyone TV, the Free TV service supported by the UK’ s PSBs, has revealed new BARB viewing data showing a significant increase in the number of people watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup over broadband, highlighting the UK’ s continued shift towards internetdelivered TV.
The data shows that the share of viewing from broadbandonly homes for England’ s group-stage matches more than quadrupled compared with the 2022 tournament. The increase reflects changing viewing habits, with more audiences choosing to stream live TV.
The World Cup also marked a series of milestones for Freely, Everyone TV’ s streaming platform. During the tournament, the platform grew to more than two million monthly active users and recorded its biggest viewing day since launch, highlighting its progress towards becoming the UK’ s largest TV device platform by 2030. Compared with last year, Freely has also seen a rise in the proportion of users returning to the platform daily, reflecting increasing loyalty to the platform.
The FIFA World Cup marked a significant moment for streamed TV over broadband, demonstrating its ability to support mass live audiences on a national scale.
Jonathan Thompson, CEO, Everyone TV, said:“ Major sporting events like the World Cup bring millions of people together for a shared live viewing experience. As one of the UK’ s biggest TV events, it offers a clear picture of how audiences are choosing to watch.”
“ Compared with 2022, significantly more viewing took place over the internet, highlighting the growing role of broadband in delivering free television and the changing ways audiences are watching live TV.”
UK adults struggling to disconnect before bed
According to research from Virgin Media O2 and Akamai, despite good intentions, many
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UK adults are finding it difficult to disconnect before they go to sleep, with more than threequarters( 76 %) taking their mobile phone to bed with them. More than one in four( 29 %) Brits say their mobile negatively impacts their bedtime routine.
The study of 2,000 adults found just over one in five( 21 %) Brits use their phone past midnight during the working week, rising to just over one in four( 26 %) on weekends. Three in five( 60 %) adults aged 18 – 24 say they struggle to stick to their self-imposed digital curfew every night, often intending to put their phone down in five minutes before losing track of time and staying online longer than planned.
The research also suggests that doomscrolling and digital entertainment have become firmly embedded in evening routines. Scrolling social media is the most common activity, with over half of Brits( 54 %) enjoying a late-night scroll, followed by watching reels or videos( 43 %) and messaging friends( 40 %). Despite the lure of the infinite scroll, people want to switch off before bedtime with more than half( 54 %) of adults saying they would welcome technology that stops them from accessing social media at night.
Parents are also feeling the impact. The research found that 66 % worry their children spend too much time online. Concerns about sleep are widespread, with nearly one in four( 23 %) parents saying smartphones and other connected devices are damaging their child’ s ability to get a good night’ s rest. However, only 5 % of parents say they do nothing to help their child achieve a healthy balance in how they use their devices.
One way parents can help support healthier online habits is through Virgin Media’ s parental controls. While more than half( 55 %) of parents are aware that they can block certain categories of websites, they have not used the feature with their children.
Nicola Green, chief communications and corporate affairs officer at Virgin Media
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O2, commented:“ Late-night scrolling has become a common habit for people of all ages, with growing awareness of the impact it can have on sleep and broader wellbeing now prompting people to look at how they can adopt healthier online habits at home. Virgin Media’ s Essential Security offering equips our customers with simple tools to help them manage their screen time, including setting social media curfews to have greater control of their night-time internet and device usage.”
Dr Tomasz Hollanek at Cambridge University, added:“ The real value of digital wellbeing tools lies in prompting conversations about healthy boundaries, screen time, and the role technology should play in everyday life. Features such as social media curfews are not simply about restricting access – they create opportunities for parents and children to discuss, negotiate, and build healthier digital habits together, which is necessary for meaningful change.”
Italy: Media revenues dip
Italy’ s media sector experienced a 0.6 % decline in total revenues to over € 12 billion, according to AgCom.
The negative performance was primarily as a result of a 2.9 % drop in advertising revenue affecting most traditional media.
Television remains the dominant sector, capturing 74.1 % of resources with revenues of € 8.9 billion(+ 0.6 %). Free-to-air TV accounted for 55.1 % of the revenues or € 4.9 billion, while the remaining 44.9 per cent or € 4 billion came from pay-TV.
TV sector funding came from pay-TV( 43.6 % of the total), advertising( 34.5 %) and public funds( 21.9 per cent), including the Rai licence fee. The market is highly concentrated, with Rai, Comcast / Sky, and Fininvest / Mediaset jointly holding 67 %, though global platforms( Netflix, DAZN, Prime Video, Disney +) now account for 23.3 %.
Fininvest / Mediaset channels led in terms of audience( 37.5 %),
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edging out Rai( 35.8 %), with Warner Bros Discovery placing third( 9.1 %).
Study: App usage spiked after every England World Cup goal
AppsFlyer has shared data measuring UK app activity across England’ s run through the FIFA World Cup 20266. The data found that the UK stands out from every other market for one reason: it’ s the only one that jumped when its own team scored in the knockout rounds.
Key findings from AppsFlyer’ s UK data include:
• England is the only market in the study to spike to react to every goal in the knockout stage, regardless of who scored. Antony Gordon’ s opener in the semi-final on July 15th drove app activity up 21 % above normal, a reaction AppsFlyer did not observe elsewhere when a team scored during the knockout rounds. In the third-place match on July 18 th, activity surged and dipped with every goal throughout the ten-goal game.
• England is the only market in the study to spike on its own team’ s goal in the knockout stage. Gordon’ s opener in the semi-final drove app activity up 21 % above normal, a reaction AppsFlyer did not observe elsewhere when a team scored during the knockout rounds.
• The lead didn’ t last, and neither did the buzz. Fans peaked at half-time, 47 % above normal, before Argentina’ s equaliser produced a 19 % shock spike. When Argentina’ s stoppagetime winner arrived, the reaction was just 6 %, fans deflating in real time as the game slipped away.
• The third-place match kept activity elevated throughout. The 6-4 win over France produced a 37 % spike at the hydration break and a 25 % jump across the goals, driven by the sheer amount of action in the match rather than any single moment.
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