YouTube is increasingly dominating TV viewing habits with more than 9 in 10 online adults using the service, according to UK regulator Ofcom’s Online Nation report.
94% of all online UK adults (44.5m) visited YouTube in May this year, spending an average of 49 minutes per day on the video service. This is an increase on the service’s 91% reach the previous year, with YouTube encompassing YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids and YouTube Studio.
Over half of online adults (54% or 25.4m) visited the site daily in May, an 11% increase from the previous year (43%/20.4m).
YouTube, which is predominantly a video streaming service, remains the highest-reaching social media service among UK online adults using smartphones, tablets or computers.
Data from audience measurement company Barb also found that total in-home video viewing (for individuals aged 4+) on YouTube via a broadband connection, which includes use on the TV set, had grown by 9% to 38 minutes for the first half of 2024, up from 35 minutes in the first half of 2023.
The time spent in the same period watching YouTube on a TV set increased by almost a third (31%), from 11 minutes to 15 minutes.
The YouTube website remains ahead of usage on the YouTube app, reaching 77% of adults compared with 69%.
More broadly, the report found that UK adults spend an average of two hours and four minutes per day on services owned by Alphabet (which owns Google and YouTube) and Facebook parent Meta, with Alphabet remaining the highest reaching organisation visited by almost all online adults at 99%.
UK adults spend an average of four hours and 20 minutes a day online across smartphones, tablets and computers, with young adults spending the most time online. 18-24-year-olds spend an average of 6 hours online while those aged 65+ spend the least at three hours and 10 minutes.
This story first appeared on Screen’s sister site Broadcast
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