Media Nations

UK 2023

Published 3 August 2023

Contents

Section
Overview ................................................................................................................................. 3
TV and video consumption trends .......................................................................................... 6
Introduction: viewing to linear broadcast TV has continued its long-term decline ....................... 6
Total video viewing ......................................................................................................................... 6
Broadcast TV viewing ...................................................................................................................... 8
Most-watched programmes and events ...................................................................................... 12
Subscription video-on-demand .................................................................................................... 15
TV viewer journeys ....................................................................................................................... 17
Social video ................................................................................................................................... 21
Audience attitudes and sentiments .............................................................................................. 25
TV and video industry trends ................................................................................................ 30
Introduction: the post-pandemic bounce-back has given way to new challenges across the
industry ......................................................................................................................................... 30
Industry revenues ......................................................................................................................... 30
Advertising market trends ............................................................................................................ 32
Broadcasters’ output and spend .................................................................................................. 35
Online video market developments ............................................................................................. 40
Radio and audio .................................................................................................................... 47
Industry trends: continued growth in local advertising and sponsorships fuels commercial radio
...................................................................................................................................................... 47
Revenues and spend ..................................................................................................................... 47
Availability and distribution of radio services .............................................................................. 50
Market developments .................................................................................................................. 52
Audience trends: overall reach of live radio stays high as listening continues to shift to online 55
Audio listening .............................................................................................................................. 55
Live radio listening ........................................................................................................................ 58
Music streaming ........................................................................................................................... 64
Podcasts ........................................................................................................................................ 66
Smart speakers and voice assistants ............................................................................................ 69
In-car listening .............................................................................................................................. 70
Overview
This is Ofcom’s sixth annual Media Nations report, a research report for industry, policymakers,
academics and consumers. The main objectives of the report are to review key trends in the media
sector and set out how audiences are served in the UK. We adopt a cross-platform perspective,
including broadcast TV and radio, as well as digital delivery including online video and audio
streaming.
As with previous editions, this report is accompanied by an interactive report containing an
extensive range of data. We also publish separate reports for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
covering specific themes and issues relevant to those nations.
Rapid change continues to characterise the TV, online video, radio and audio sectors. We focus on
evolving consumer behaviours and the key industry trends and dynamics shaping them, drawing on
a range of relevant evidence.
Ofcom’s Media Nations report addresses the requirement to undertake and make public our
consumer research (as set out in Sections 14 and 15 of the Communications Act 2003). It also meets
the requirements on Ofcom under Section 358 of the Communications Act 2003 to publish an annual
factual and statistical report on the TV and radio sector.

What we have found – in brief

Overall viewing of TV and video continued to fall in 2022, although broadcasters maintained their
share due in part to growth in viewing to their on-demand platforms

• The average amount of time spent watching TV and video content across all devices in 2022 was
4 hours 28 minutes per person per day. We estimate that this was about 12% lower than in
2021, when time spent was partly boosted by Covid-19 restrictions.

• Broadcasters’ platforms – linear TV channels, TV recordings and their on-demand services –

maintained their 60% share of total video viewing from 2021 to 2022, while use of broadcaster
video-on-demand (BVoD) services continued to grow.

• There was a slowing in the take-up of subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services such as
Netflix and Disney+, and there are indications that SVoD viewing declined in 2022 (along with
most other forms of viewing as total viewing fell). Two-thirds (66%) of UK households reported
using an SVoD service in Q1 2023, down from a peak of 68% in Q1 2022.

• YouTube and Facebook remain the largest social video platforms in the UK, each reaching 91%
of UK internet users aged 15+ in Q1 2023. Use of TikTok remains high among users aged 15-24,
at an hour per day, but take-up among children has slowed.

Both reach and viewing of broadcast TV fell by significant margins in 2022, and the number of
broadcast programmes attracting mass audiences is in steep decline

• Broadcast TV’s weekly reach fell from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022, the biggest-ever annual drop.
The long-term decline in viewing of broadcast TV also continued – it fell by 12% year on year
and was 16% lower than pre-pandemic levels.

3
• For the first time there is evidence of a significant decline in broadcast TV viewing among older
audiences. Over-64s watched 8% less broadcast TV in 2022 than in 2021 and viewing was 6%
lower than in 2019 (the last pre-pandemic year). Older viewers are increasingly using streaming
services, with take-up of Disney+ among online over-64s rising from 7% in 2022 to 12% in 2023.

• Among younger audiences, broadcast TV viewing continued to decline rapidly, falling by 21%
year on year among those aged 4-34.

• Although PSB channels still dominate the list of most-watched programmes, the number of
transmissions achieving ‘mass audiences’ is in steep decline. In 2014, 2,490 transmissions
attracted more than four million TV viewers, but in 2022 there were only 1,184 – a 52% drop.
Transmissions attracting more than six million TV viewers fell by 82% over the same period,
from 1,172 to 213.

Following a strong 2021 rebound, revenues for commercial broadcasters fell slightly in 2022 in a
difficult economic environment

• Total commercial TV and online video revenue increased by 4.5% in 2022 to £17.3bn, driven by
online video services, whose market share rose to 36%, compared to 15% in 2017.

• Combined revenues for the commercial PSBs, digital multichannels and pay-TV platform
operators declined by 1.8% to £11.1bn. There was a small decline in the combined revenues of
ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, but at £2.3bn this was still the second-highest annual total since
2017.

• Mixed performances in different sectors of the advertising market resulted in overall advertising
expenditure increasing by 8.8% to £34.8bn. This was primarily driven by online, which rose by
£2.6bn (11.1%), accounting for nearly all the total £2.8bn increase.

• The TV advertising market suffered a small decline in 2022, with spend falling by 1.4% to £5.4bn,
reflecting the difficult economic environment and post-pandemic recalibration. A 15% increase
in BVoD spend was not enough to offset a 4% decrease for linear TV.

Broadcasters generally returned to full production schedules in 2022, with an increase in first-run
PSB originations, although some lasting pandemic impacts remain

• PSBs’ spend on first-run originations totalled £2.9bn in 2022, up 10.3% year on year and 14.2%
higher than in 2019. First-run originated hours reached their highest total since 2016, partly
because some programming, delayed by Covid-19, aired later than originally planned.

• Although output was up, the increase in spend reflected PSBs’ increased costs, including
lingering Covid-related production protocol costs and inflationary pressure affecting production-
related expenses.

• Overall, audiences continue to be broadly satisfied with public service broadcasting, and in a
year of the FIFA World Cup, the Platinum Jubilee and the state funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II,
there was an increase in 2022 in how PSBs were seen to deliver on ‘broadcast events that bring
the nation together for a shared viewing experience’.

4
The SVoD market is maturing, with household take-up seemingly approaching a plateau and
providers seeking to maintain revenue growth by evolving their business models

• The SVoD sector generated an estimated £3.3bn in 2022, up 21.5% year on year, driven by a
combination of price rises and overall growth in subscriptions. But the indications are that
overall SVoD household penetration has plateaued.

• In a bid to sustain subscriber growth and boost customer retention, and to create a new source
of revenue, some SVoD providers are incorporating advertising into their services. Netflix’s new
ad-supported tier appears to have reasonably strong early appeal, with 13% of UK online adults
and teens surveyed in February 2023 claiming to take it.

• Streaming content investments remain high but are becoming more prudent, as SVoD providers
shift their focus to profitability. As part of this, content licensing has re-emerged as a revenue
opportunity, while Netflix is leading on password-sharing crackdowns in a bid to maximise the
value of its users.

Continued growth in local advertising and sponsorships is fuelling commercial radio, with AM
switch-offs and a shift to DAB providing additional cost savings and greater access to audiences

• Radio advertising continues to grow, with commercial radio revenues up 3% in 2022, while
digital audio ad spend rose 13% overall, driven by a 41% rise in podcast advertising.

• Despite a 4% decline in expenditure on physical formats, consumer spend on recorded music

continues to grow, reaching almost £2bn in 2022, with subscriptions to the likes of Spotify and
Apple Music accounting for 83% of the total.

• The availability of AM medium wave (MW) radio is shrinking as broadcasters switch off ageing
and power-hungry transmission equipment. But the number of services available on DAB has
increased, with 654 services now available on local multiplexes.

Overall reach of live radio remains high as listening continues to shift to online, while other forms
of audio like music streaming and podcasts are more popular with younger listeners

• Live radio continues to be the most popular form of audio, with 88% of adults tuning in for an
average of 20 hours each week, but under-35s are more likely to stream music than tune in to
radio.

• Music streaming accounts for half of young people’s total audio listening and a fifth for adults
overall, but the reach of these services has plateaued in the last two years at 47%.

• Spotify continues to be the most popular platform for music streaming and podcasts, and it
accounted for the majority of time spent music streaming in Q1 2023.

• Commercial radio has consolidated its position as market leader, taking a 51.4% share of
listening in Q1 2023, five percentage points clear of the BBC.

• Radio listening continues to shift to online, with smart speakers now accounting for a fifth of in-
home radio listening. Four in ten households have at least one smart speaker, although overall
take-up appears to be plateauing.

• A third of adults listen to speech radio each week, and a fifth listen to podcasts. While most
podcast listeners say that podcasts offer them something they can’t get on radio, the key factor
is being able to listen whenever it’s convenient.

5
TV and video consumption
trends
Introduction: viewing to linear broadcast TV has
continued its long-term decline
This section draws on data from research agencies measuring audience viewing, as well as Ofcom’s
own audience research and other third-party research, to evidence and provide commentary on
continuing shifts in audiences’ TV and video viewing habits and preferences.

Total video viewing

Where our data comes from
Our total video viewing analysis refers to audio-visual content both inside and outside
the home. It uses data from Barb Audiences Ltd (Barb) as much as possible – see the
‘Broadcast TV viewing’ section on page 8 for more information about Barb’s
methodology. Since November 2021, Barb’s measurement extension has included more
detail for some video-on-demand (VoD) platforms and video sharing platforms (VSPs),
both across TV sets and other devices connected to a home’s WiFi network. Barb does
not measure out-of-home viewing, so we estimate this based on IPA TouchPoints data
and include it in our total video viewing figures. In some cases, direct year-on-year
comparisons are not yet possible, since Barb’s measurement enhancement does not
cover the whole of 2021. Therefore, we note directional trends where calculations are
similar to 2021 or where there are other sources to back this up.

Viewing broadcasters’ content accounts for the largest

proportion of all time spent watching TV and video
The average amount of time individuals (aged 4+) spent watching any video content across all
devices in 2022 was 4 hours 28 minutes per person per day. The TV set remains the most-used
device for watching video content, accounting for 82% of total video viewing, with live broadcast TV
making up the largest proportion of this time. Across all devices, live TV accounted for 44% of total
video viewing in 2022, and, together with recorded playback and broadcaster video-on-demand
(BVoD), all content from broadcasters accounted for 60% of total video viewing.
We are confident that total video viewing decreased from 2021 to 2022. Taking the aforementioned
methodology changes into consideration, we estimate that the decrease was about 12% (39 minutes
per person per day) across all individuals 4+. We note that some Covid-19 restrictions were still in
place for parts of 2021, which may have inflated TV and video consumption that year.

6
Figure 1: Average daily minutes of video viewing across all devices, by all individuals: 2022

Source: Ofcom estimates from Barb, IPA TouchPoints. Broadcaster content includes live TV, recorded playback
and BVoD. ‘Other TV set usage’ includes viewing to some SVoD/AVoD/VSP that cannot be definitively
measured. This category also includes some unmeasured broadcast channels, non-catch-up DVD/DVR viewing,
some EPG/menu browsing, viewing when the audio is muted, piracy, unmeasured box-sets/pay-per-view
content, and non-video internet activity through a PC or other device connected to the TV. SVoD excludes
viewing of NOW, which is captured within BVoD along with Sky Go/Sky TV On Demand (these two services
stream the same content, so measured viewing cannot be separated out).

Broadcaster VoD and video sharing platforms were the only

forms of viewing where time spent increased in 2022
Given the change in measurement methodology outlined above, we are unable to make many direct
year-on-year comparisons apart from linear TV viewing. However, the figures we do have indicate
that BVoD was one of the few forms of viewing to have increased, and this is corroborated by other
sources. 1 While this increase was not enough to compensate for the decrease in live TV and
recorded playback viewing in absolute terms, we estimate that overall viewing of broadcaster
content (i.e. across the three categories of live, recorded and on demand) – remained stable at
about 60% of total video viewing.
While we do not have like-for-like comparisons for previous years, there are indications that SVoD
viewing declined in 2022 and that it did not increase its share of total video viewing. 2 This might
have been due to increased viewing in 2021 because of the Covid-19-related restrictions that were in
place at the beginning of the year, resulting in some people being at home more. Another likely
contributor is that overall SVoD penetration is reaching saturation and so increased time spent

1 IPA TouchPoints diary data shows that, comparing the 2023 SuperHub with the 2022 SuperHub, time spent
watching BVoD services increased. Data from Ofcom’s VoD Survey shows that the number of people using
BVoD services increased from 2022 to 2023, and the number watching at least once a day also increased. This
includes results from the total sample (online and CATI).
2 IPA TouchPoints diary data shows that comparing the 2023 SuperHub with the 2022 SuperHub, time spent

watching SVoD services decreased. Data from Ofcom’s VoD Survey also shows a decrease in the number of
SVoD users from 2022 to 2023, as well a decrease in the numbers claiming to use SVoD at least once a week
and in those watching at least once a day. This includes results from the total sample (online and CATI).
7
watching SVoD content can no longer be driven by increased take-up, as it has been in previous
years.

Video viewing varies greatly by age

Time spent watching video is much lower for younger age groups and this is particularly the case for
live TV viewing. Broadcasters accounted for 23% of children’s total video viewing in 2022, while 38%
went to VSPs and 19% went to SVoD/AVoD services. By comparison, 16-34-year-olds spent 28% of
their video time with broadcasters and, of all the age groups, allocated the highest proportion to
SVoD/AVoD (24%). At the other end of the spectrum, among adults aged 75+, live TV alone
accounted for 79% of their total video viewing, with all broadcaster content accounting for 91%,
showing the enduring importance of linear TV to older audiences.

Figure 2: Average daily minutes of video viewing, by age: 2022

361
15
DVD/Blu-ray/VHS
37
268
Video sharing platforms
46 226
Other TV set usage
23 196
37 72 SVoD/AVoD
16 74
25 36 283
BVoD
39
54 Recorded playback
120 38 16
11 Live TV
30 36

All individuals 4+ Children 4-15* Adults 16-34 Adults 75+

Source: Ofcom estimates from Barb, IPA TouchPoints. *Children figures exclude viewing to BVoD, VSPs and
SVoD outside the home, whereas the other age groups include these. For context, among all adults (16+), 1% of
total viewing was outside the home. See notes for Figure 1 for more information about the ‘Other TV set usage’
group.

Broadcast TV viewing
Where our data comes from
Most of the viewing data comes from Barb Audiences Ltd (Barb), the industry’s standard
for understanding what people watch. This includes viewing of broadcast TV through TV
sets and via devices attached to TV sets, such as computers, streaming devices and set-
top boxes. It also includes some viewing for online streaming services and for devices
not connected to the TV being watched at home via WiFi. Barb does not capture out-of-
home viewing to SVoD services or video sharing platforms.
Unless otherwise stated, Barb figures quoted for broadcast TV are for 28-day
consolidated viewing on a TV set. Consolidated viewing includes viewing of programmes
at the time they were broadcast (live viewing) as well as from recordings on digital
video recorders (DVRs) and through online BVoD services (e.g. BBC iPlayer, ITVX and Sky
Go/Sky TV On Demand) up to 28 days after the first broadcast (time-shifted). It does not
include viewing to non-linear programming on BVoD services, including box-sets and
archive content.
8
Broadcast TV viewing continued its long-term decline, with
viewing among over-64s now also decreasing steadily
All individuals (4+) watched on average about 16% less broadcast TV between 2019 (the most recent
year in which viewing was not affected by the pandemic) and 2022. However, broadcast TV viewing
has declined at a much faster rate among younger viewers – for example, decreasing by 47% over
the same period for those aged 16-24.
Older viewers, who had maintained relatively consistent average viewing times before the
pandemic, have now started to follow these downwards trends. In 2022, viewers aged 65-74
watched about 10% less broadcast TV year on year, and while the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic
may have boosted viewing figures in 2021, 2022’s figure was 6% lower than 2019’s. Likewise,
broadcast TV viewing by those aged 75+ was down 6% compared to 2021 and down 7% compared to
2019. 3 Older viewers may be becoming more likely to take up streaming services alongside
broadcast TV services. For example, data from Ofcom’s VoD Survey indicates that the proportion of
online over-64s using Disney+ increased from 7% in early 2022 to 12% in early 2023; 43% said they
used Netflix and 37% said they used Amazon Prime Video (both stable compared to 2022). 4

Figure 3: Average daily minutes of broadcast TV viewing, by age group: 2012-2022

400

350
Average daily TV viewing minutes

329 75+
300 316
65-74
250 248 55-64
45-54
200
180 All individuals (4+)
150 158 35-44
100 106 25-34
73 16-24
50 41 Children (4-15)
39
0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Barb 28-day consolidated, TV sets only.

Viewers aged 55-64 also watched 10% less broadcast TV in 2022 than in the previous year. However,
45-54-year-olds showed the biggest year-on-year percentage decrease in broadcast TV viewing, from
3 hours 28 minutes in 2021 down to 3 hours in 2022 (-13%). And, looking at longer-term trends,
average viewing by adults aged 25-34 and 35-44 has decreased by just over two hours per day over
the past ten years – by approximately 63% and 53% respectively.
For the first time, 16-24-year-olds watched less broadcast TV on average than children aged 4-15,
although only by a couple of minutes (39 minutes compared to 41). Children and young adults under
25 have collectively decreased their average daily viewing by 73% since 2012. Evidence suggests that
16-24-year-olds are likely to be tuning in to broadcast TV for only one or two programmes per day;
they still have a level of interest in broadcast TV, mainly for genres such as sport and popular

3
Barb 28-day consolidated.
4Ofcom VoD Survey: A bespoke survey of online adults and teens which looks at VoD service use and VoD
provider perceptions. Fieldwork conducted 22-28 February 2022 for 2022 and 22-27 February 2023 for 2023.
9
entertainment/reality programming such as Love Island. BVoD services account for an ever-greater
share of broadcasters’ viewing, but the majority is still to linear broadcast channels.
Viewing to BVoD services such as BBC iPlayer has steadily increased over the last few years, growing
from 4% of total broadcaster viewing in 2017 to 10% in 2022. 5 As mentioned earlier, this growth has
not been enough to compensate for the larger decline in viewing to broadcasters’ linear channels,
and it is these linear channels which continue to account for the majority (90%) of broadcasters’
total viewing.
That said, these proportions vary by broadcaster. Sky 6 and the BBC capture a greater proportion of
their audiences on BVoD (16% and 14% respectively), whereas Channel 5 remains predominantly
linear-based, with 96% of all its viewing going to its broadcast linear channels and 4% to its BVoD
service, My5. ITV relaunched and rebranded its BVoD service from ITV Hub to ITVX in December
2022 to place a greater emphasis on streaming, but since Figure 4 covers 2022 as a whole it
predominantly reflects ITV Hub’s performance. Barb data for the first half of 2023 shows that BBC
and ITV are continuing to adapt to changing viewing habits. ITVX accounted for 10% of ITV’s total
viewing, up from the 7% figure across 2022. For context, over the same time periods, BBC iPlayer
rose from 14% of the BBC’s total viewing to 18%. See the TV and video industry trends section for
further detail on BVoD strategies and recent industry developments in this sector.

Figure 4: Average daily minutes viewed of linear* and BVoD, by broadcaster: 2022
% of broadcasters’
content that is BVoD

BBC 46 8 BBC: 14%

ITV 33 2 ITV: 7%

Channel 4 15 2 Channel 4: 12%

Channel 5 10 Channel 5: 4%

Sky 12 2 Sky: 16%

Others 29 1 Others: 4%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Average daily minutes per person
Linear* BVoD

Source: Barb as-viewed across TV sets and all devices using the home WiFi, all individuals (4+). *Linear refers to
viewing across all the broadcast channels owned by each broadcaster (watched live and recorded within the
year). BVoD includes all content watched via the on-demand services owned by each broadcaster including
non-linear programming. Sky’s BVoD figure includes viewing to Sky’s SVoD service, NOW, because Barb’s
measurement is unable to separate this from Sky Go/Sky TV On Demand.

5
Ofcom estimates using Barb and IPA TouchPoints for 2022. The comparison with 2017 was with Ofcom
estimates modelled from Barb, Comscore and IPA TouchPoints.
6
Includes viewing to Sky’s SVoD service, NOW, because Barb’s measurement is unable to separate this from
Sky Go/Sky TV On Demand.
10
Broadcast TV’s weekly reach fell steeply in 2022 – BBC One was
the only channel to reach more than half of individuals
In addition to the decline in the amount of broadcast TV watched, the weekly reach 7 of broadcast TV
among all individuals has steadily declined, from 91% in 2017 to 79% in 2022. The four-percentage-
point drop from 2021 to 2022 was the largest-ever annual decrease. The largest declines in weekly
reach have been among 16-24-year-olds (from 82% in 2017 to 54% in 2022, with a six-percentage-
point decrease last year), and children aged 4-15 (from 87% in 2017 to 60% in 2022, down five
percentage points year on year). Conversely, weekly reach among those aged 65+ has remained
consistently high; at 96% in 2022, there has been just a one-percentage-point decline over the last
five years.
As per the overall decline for broadcast TV, weekly reach of the five main PSB channels also fell in
2022. Although BBC One continues to have the highest weekly reach of all TV channels (58%), this is
12 percentage points lower than in 2017. Additionally, both BBC Two and the combined BBC
portfolio channels 8 have experienced a steady decline, reaching less than half of all individuals in
2022 (at 44% and 43% respectively).

Figure 5: Weekly reach, by TV channel: 2017-2022

100%

90%

80% Total TV viewing

79%
70% BBC One

ITV1
60% 58%
Commercial PSB portfolio channels
50%
44% BBC Two
40% 43%
37% Channel 4
30% 34%
27% Channel 5
25%
20%
BBC portfolio channels
10%

0%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Barb 28-day consolidated, all individuals (4+), TV sets only. Weekly reach is defined as the percentage
of all individuals aged 4+ watching 15 consecutive minutes or more in an average week.

The PSBs have increased their share of broadcast TV viewing

over the last few years
In recent years, PSB channels – the five main PSB channels and the BBC portfolio channels – have
increased their share of broadcast TV viewing across the UK, from 55% in 2019 to 58% in 2022, while
commercial PSB portfolio channels (such as ITV2, E4, or 5Action) have held their share relatively
steady over the same timeframe. As a result, multichannels (such as those from Sky, UKTV,

7 Weekly reach defined as the percentage of all individuals aged 4+ watching 15 consecutive minutes or more
in an average week.
8 BBC portfolio channels include BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC Parliament and BBC

Scotland.
11
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery) have declined in terms of their share of broadcast TV, from
30% in 2019 to 28% in 2022.
However, it should be noted that competition for people’s attention has increasingly arisen outside
broadcast TV over the last 10 to 15 years, either from online-only streaming services, often with
large content budgets (such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+), video sharing and social media
platforms (such as YouTube, Facebook and TikTok), or even gaming platforms.

Figure 6: Broadcast viewing share, by channel group, for all individuals (4+): 2017-2022
100%
90%
29.9 29.7 30.0 30.4 29.0 28.0
80%
70%
15.4 15.2 15.0 14.1 13.9 13.9
60%
50%
40%
30% 55.5 56.7 57.7
54.6 55.2 55.0
20%
10%
0%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
PSB channels Commercial PSB portfolio channels Multichannels

Source: Barb 28-day consolidated, all individuals (4+), TV sets only. PSB +1 channels are included in their
portfolio groups. ‘PSB channels’ includes the five main PSB channels (excluding +1s) and all BBC channels.

Most-watched programmes and events

PSBs still dominate the list of most-watched programmes, but

the number with over 4 million viewers has halved since 2014
Despite the continuing decline of linear TV viewing, PSB channels still dominate the list of most-
watched programmes, especially when covering events of national significance such as high-profile
sport, royal events and entertainment shows. Our research into public service broadcasting 9
highlights that audiences continue to say that PSBs deliver well on broadcast events that bring the
nation together, and this is explored later in this section.
However, the number of transmissions achieving ‘mass audiences’ is in steep decline. In 2014, 2,490
broadcast transmissions attracted more than four million TV viewers, but in 2022 there were only
1,184 – a 52% decline. The decline was across most genres, but news (down 72%, from 537 to 148
programmes) and soaps (down 42%, from 754 to 438 programmes), which are the most prominent
genres in terms of large audience titles, contributed the most to this drop, followed by other dramas
(non-soaps). These declines reflect changing news consumption habits, with fewer people watching
the main early and late evening TV news bulletins, as well as a steady decline in viewing figures for
the three most-watched soaps – Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale. Overall, there was

9 Ofcom’s Public Service Media Tracker 2022.

12
an even sharper drop (82%) in the number of broadcast transmissions generating more than six
million TV viewers, from 1,172 in 2014 to 213 in 2022.
An additional 48 programmes attracted more than four million TV viewers on SVoD/AVoD platforms
in 2022, with Netflix accounting for the vast majority. This relatively small number for SVoD/AVoD –
4% of the broadcast TV figure – illustrates how fragmented the viewing landscape has become, with
the considerable levels of SVoD/AVoD viewing spread over the tens of thousands of episodes
available across multiple platforms. 10

Figure 7: Number of broadcast TV transmissions with average audience above 4 million: 2014-2022

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

4-6 million 6-8 million 8-10 million Over 10 million

Source: Barb 28-day consolidated, all individuals (4+), TV sets only. Transmissions with a six-minute minimum
duration averaging at least 4 million viewers on broadcast TV. Includes +1 channels where applicable. No
combination of simultaneous broadcasts across channels.

The FIFA World Cup, Platinum Jubilee and HM Queen Elizabeth

II state funeral were the most-watched TV events of 2022
The list of most-watched programmes in 2022 was topped by coverage of England’s quarter-final
against France in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with an average of 16.1 million viewers. The second
most-watched programme was the coverage of one of England’s earlier World Cup matches, against
Senegal, with 14.4 million viewers. 11
Royal events also appeared among the list of most-watched programmes in 2022. The second part of
BBC One’s coverage of the state funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II was watched by an average of 13.2
million viewers and The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee averaged slightly less. An average of 12 million
viewers watched the coronation of King Charles III on BBC One on 6 May 2023. 12

10 According to Barb’s programme viewing measurement of SVoD/AVoD services, which includes Netflix,
Disney+, Amazon Prime, Paramount+ and Apple TV+.
11 Barb, 28-day consolidated, including +1 channels where appropriate. Individuals 4+, all devices, in-home

only.
12 The second transmission between 10:18 and 13:03 that day. None of the figures referenced in this

paragraph include combined viewing across the various channels which covered the same individual events.
13
Figure 8: Top 10 most-watched programmes in the UK, highest performing episode per title: 2022

Average
Share audience
Rank Title Channel Date (%) (millions)

1 FIFA World Cup: England vs France (QF) ITV1 10/12/2022 68.4 16.1

2 The State Funeral of HM Queen BBC One 19/09/2022 61.1 13.2

Elizabeth II (part 2)

3 The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee BBC One 04/06/2022 66.2 13.2

4 I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! ITV1 06/11/2022 52.9 12.5

5 The Tourist BBC One 01/01/2022 42.1 11.4

6 Happy New Year Live! BBC One 31/12/2022 55.8 11.3

7 Women's Euro 2022: England vs BBC One 31/07/2022 64.1 11.2

Germany (F)

8 Trigger Point ITV1 23/01/2022 43.8 10.9

9 Strictly Come Dancing BBC One 17/12/2022 55.0 10.7

10 The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe ITV1 17/04/2022 41.9 10.1

Source: Barb 28-day consolidated including pre-broadcast, individuals (4+), all devices. Highest performing
episode of each title only, so does not include the second most-watched FIFA World Cup match (England vs
Senegal on BBC One), for example. Includes +1 channels where applicable.

A few of the most-watched programmes in 2022 attracted

proportionally larger audiences through BVoD services
Even though BVoD services accounted for just 10% of viewing to broadcaster content overall, the
proportion was higher for a few of the most-watched programmes of 2022 (see Figure 9). For
example, 57% of all viewing to 2022’s top drama series The Tourist came via BBC iPlayer; the series
was released in full on iPlayer after the first broadcast on BBC One. Of all the viewing to BBC One’s
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, 12% was via iPlayer, on par with ITV1’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of
Here!, which recorded 12% of its viewership via BVoD. 13 By comparison, ITV2’s youth-skewing – and
therefore relatively highly online-skewing – Love Island series 8 registered 39% of its audience via
BVoD. Typically, younger audiences help drive BVoD viewing, and for these two ITV shows, BVoD
viewing by those aged 16-34 accounted for 24% and 46% of their totals respectively.

13 ITVX replaced ITV Hub as ITV’s BVoD service in December 2022.

14
Figure 9: Proportion of viewing to selected programmes, linear and BVoD: 2022

FIFA World Cup QF England vs France (ITV1) 10th Dec 91% 9% 16.1

The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II Part 2 (BBC One) 19th Sep 95% 5% 13.2

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (BBC One) 4th Jun 88% 12% 13.2

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! (ITV1) 2022 series average 88% 12% 11.0

The Tourist (BBC One) series average 43% 57% 10.2

Coronation Street (ITV1) 2022 average 93% 7% 5.3

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Linear* BVoD Average audience (millions)

Source: Barb, 28-day consolidated, all individuals (4+), all devices. *Linear refers to viewing across all the
broadcast channels owned by each broadcaster (watched live and recorded within 28 days). BVoD includes all
content watched via the on-demand services owned by each broadcaster include non-linear programming.

Subscription video-on-demand

Take-up of SVoD services stalled in 2022 as economic pressure

on households increased and growing competition took effect
This section discusses changes in the take-up and consumption of SVoD services, including Netflix,
Amazon Prime and Disney+. Further detail on industry developments within the SVoD sector is
provided in the TV and video industry trends section of this report.
The growth of SVoD household penetration slowed in 2022, and this continued into early 2023 as
the rising cost of living, combined with SVoD service price rises, put greater strain on household
budgets. As discussed in the TV and video industry trends section of this report, Netflix began to
incorporate ad-supported tiers and the competitive landscape continued to expand. Following the
accelerated adoption of SVoD during the pandemic, when the number of UK households subscribing
to at least one service reached 68% in Q1 2022, this figure has since come down slightly and
plateaued at about two-thirds of households (66%, or 19 million) in Q1 2023.

15
Figure 10: SVoD penetration of UK households, by provider: Q1 2015 to Q1 2023
68%
70% 66%
65%
Any SVoD

60%
59% 60% 59%
53% Netflix

50% 47% 47%

45%
Amazon Prime
Household penetration

39% 46% Video

40% 44%
40% Disney+
32%
30% 32% 28%
26% 25%
23% NOW
20% 21%
25%
20% 17% 17%
22%
13% Apple TV+
16% 9%
10% 8% 7%
6% 5% 6% 6%
4% 4% Any other
6% 7%
0%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Source: Barb Establishment Survey. Includes paid-for subscriptions and free trials. No data for Q2 2020, Q4
2020, and Q1 2021 due to the suspension of fieldwork due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘Any other’ includes Hayu,
Discovery+, Paramount+ and BritBox.

Netflix has maintained its position as the largest SVoD provider in the UK, with 59% of households
subscribing. Disney+ (25%) added an additional 746,000 households between the first and fourth
quarters of 2022, taking its subscription base up to 7.1 million households, but alongside Netflix and
Amazon Prime Video, it fell in Q1 2023. Apple TV+ bucked this trend and increased its volume of
subscriber homes by two percentage points compared to the same quarter in 2022. With
subscriptions to Apple TV+ provided as a free trial with new Apple device purchases, 18% of total
Apple TV+ subscriptions were free in Q1 2023 (Q1 2022: 14%), compared with just 2% of Netflix and
3% of Amazon Prime Video subscriptions. The average number of SVoD subscriptions per UK
household taking at least one SVoD service remained stable between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, at just
over two per household. 14
According to research from The Insights Family, use of the leading SVoD platforms among children
aged 3-12 continued to grow in Q1 2023. Netflix remained the most popular service among children,
with its quarterly reach increasing by four percentage points year on year to 66%. YouTube
(including YouTube Kids) was still the second most popular online video service among this audience,
with 45% of 3-12-year-olds stating they used the service. However, the proportion of children saying
that they used the service declined by 14 percentage points. 15 That said, in terms of levels of use,
over half said they watched more YouTube than other platforms, rising from 47% to 51% year on
year. 16
Amazon Prime Video maintained its reach of 45%, but Amazon Kids+, a standalone service costing
£6.99 per month, or £3.99 for existing Prime customers, achieved the biggest increase in reach of
any service over the year, up from 0.2% in Q1 2022 to 8.5% in Q1 2023, having rebranded in the UK
in April 2021 and rolling out to other platforms since then. Disney+ continued to gain momentum,
and its reach increased year on year by three percentage points, from 37% to 40%. BBC iPlayer

14
Barb Establishment Survey. Includes paid-for subscriptions and free trials.
15
The Insights Family UK. Age 3-12.
16
The Insights Family UK. Question: What have you watched more of this week? Answers to choose from:
Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video or normal TV. Age 3-12. 1 January – 31 March 2023: 1,696.
16
(including iPlayer Kids) remained in the top five most-used services but had a year-on-year decline of
six percentage points, down to 30%. 17

Figure 11: Use of selected online video services, by 3-12-year-olds: Q1 2021 – Q1 2023
66% Q1 2021 Q1 2022 Q1 2023
62% 61%
59%
56%

45% 45%45%
42% 40%
37% 38%
36%
31% 30%

19%
16%
10% 8% 10%10% 9% 8%
6% 7% 6% 6% 6% 5%
4% 4% 5% 4% 4% 4% 4% 3% 4% 4% 3%
0%

Source: The Insights Family UK. Age 3-12. Multi-choice question: Which of these TV platforms do you use? Q1: 1
January-31 March. Base: 2023: 1696; 2022: 1721; 2021: 1670.

TV viewer journeys
Audiences have different viewer journeys from when they turn on the TV to when they turn it off,
with variations in switching behaviour between different channels and services to find the content
they want to watch. Ofcom commissioned TRP Research to carry out bespoke analysis of the Barb
database to provide quantitative insight into these different viewer journeys during a portion of
2022. A summary of our analysis is outlined below.
Using Barb’s new measurement extension we segmented 8,560 panellists into five distinct groups,
with the main differentiating variable being the amount of linear TV watched, as illustrated in Figure
12 below.

17 The Insights Family UK, Age 3-12, Q1: 1 January – 31 March 2023.
17
Figure 12: Definitions and characteristics of the five segments

Source: Ofcom/TRP.

We then looked at how viewer journeys (or viewing sessions) varied by each of the segments. A
viewing session includes all the activity from when an individual turns on the TV to when they turn it
off, and includes all switching between different services, such as linear TV channels, BVoD and SVoD
services, and VSPs such as YouTube. An example of a viewer journey is shown below. In total we
analysed approximately 500,000 viewing sessions on the TV set, containing a total of 3.7 million
‘switch’ events. 18

Figure 13: Example of a viewer journey

Source: Ofcom/TRP.

18Each switch (or channel/platform viewed) must last a minute or longer to be counted. The entire journey
must exceed at least five minutes to be included in the analysis. If a viewer watches the channel which is
automatically on, when they switch on the TV for more than one minute, then this will be counted as their first
switch.
18
Linear Heavy viewers have longer TV viewing sessions and make
more switches per session
Linear Heavy viewers watch more than 5 hours of linear TV per day and are the largest segment,
representing 30% of the total audience but making up more than half (52%) of all TV and AV viewing
in the home via the TV set. This segment has a high proportion of viewers aged 55+ (77%) as well as
single-person households (30%). They have on average three viewer journeys (viewing sessions from
TV on to TV off) per day, compared to only two for Linear Light viewers. In addition, Linear Heavy
viewers have longer viewer journey lengths (159 minutes per journey, versus 83 minutes for Linear
Light). Linear Heavy viewers also have the highest volume of switches per journey (8) as they
navigate between predominately linear channels looking for content that appeals, compared to only
six switches per journey for Linear Light viewers.
Linear Medium viewers are the second largest segment, representing 28% of the TV viewer
universe. On average they watch one to two hours of TV per viewing session, three times a day, and
make seven switches per session. Most of their viewing (62%) is to linear TV, while SVoD/AVoD
services account for 14% of their viewing time.

Linear Light viewers have the largest proportion of journeys

starting with BVoD, but are more likely to select SVoD as a first
destination
Linear Light viewers watch 34 minutes of linear TV per viewing session. However, they spend the
same amount of time on SVoD/AVoD services and ‘unmatched’ viewing combined. 19 They are
potentially ‘floating voters’, some of whom may transition to becoming Linear Rejectors. However,
they also watch the most BVoD (11 minutes per viewing session) of all the segments.
Very few journeys (2% among all individuals) are unique to BVoD – i.e. BVoD is typically watched in
conjunction with linear or SVoD/AVoD in the same viewing session (72% of BVoD viewing is in
conjunction with linear, while 24% is in conjunction with SVoD/AVoD). BVoD services represent only
a small proportion of first destinations (5% among all individuals). Although Linear Light viewers are
the most likely segment to begin their viewing session with BVoD, they are twice as likely to select
SVoD/AVoD over BVoD.
Linear Rejectors watch the most SVoD/AVoD in a typical journey and switch the least between
channels and services; 42% of all Linear Rejectors’ journeys are made up of only one or two switches,
suggesting that SVoD/AVoD/VSPs are ‘stickier’ and hold viewers’ attention for longer, perhaps due
to features such as ‘play next episode’ and ‘watch entire series’. Linear Rejectors not only reject
linear TV channels but also BVoD, with only a small amount of BVoD featuring in their viewer
journeys (4 minutes, compared to 39 minutes of SVoD/AVoD and 17 minutes of VSPs watched in the
home via the TV set).

19‘Unmatched’ is unidentified viewing. It includes viewing of linear content via DVR 29+ days following
recording, watching DVDs, viewing of unreferenced channels, gaming through the TV (e.g.
PlayStation/Xbox/Switch), as well as viewing of some SVoD/AVoD services or VSPs that cannot be measured
definitively.
19
Figure 14: Viewing session length and switching behaviour, by segment, 2022

Source: Ofcom/TRP.

After BBC One and ITV1, Netflix is the next most popular first
destination among all individuals
Netflix is the third most popular first destination among all individuals aged 4+, behind BBC One and
ITV1 but ahead of all other linear channels and BVoD services. BBC One is the first destination 20 for
20% of all individuals, followed by ITV1 (13%) and Netflix (6%). For each of the five segments, the top
destination channels are shown in Figure 15 as an index relative to all individuals (see the notes
below the chart for more detail). For example, Linear Heavy viewers are more likely to select ITV3 as
a first destination compared to all individuals.
Netflix is also the third most popular final destination among all individuals. Almost a quarter (23%)
of all switches among Linear Rejectors are between Netflix and another SVoD/AVoD service or a VSP
such as YouTube, or vice versa.
Children (aged 4-15) have shorter journeys with fewer switches compared to adults. This is driven by
children having a higher proportion of viewer journeys unique to SVoD/AVoD or VSPs. Adults are
more likely to select SVoD/AVoD as a first destination if they are viewing with children (18% when
viewing with children, 6% without).

If a viewer watches the channel that is ‘automatically on’ when they switch on the TV for more than a
20

minute, this will be counted as their first destination (or switch).

20
Figure 15: First destinations indexed versus all individuals, by segment

Source: Ofcom/TRP. Index = % of first destination for each segment versus % of first destination for all
individuals aged 4+. A figure of 100 is an exact match compared to all individuals, whereas a figure of 200
means the channel is twice as likely to be a first destination compared to all individuals.

Social video

Young adults continue to spend an hour per day on TikTok

Time spent per visitor to social video platforms – covering all activities including viewing video,
listening to audio, communicating, and scrolling – was broadly stable across the major platforms
year on year. UK visitors aged 15+ to Facebook (including Messenger) spent 37 minutes per day in
March 2023 (March 2022: 34 minutes), and those to YouTube spent 23 minutes per day (March
2022: 22 minutes). Facebook and YouTube continue to be the social video platforms with the highest
reach, both with 91% (45.6 million) of UK online adults, and they remain the platforms accounting
for the most time spent overall.
While average time spent on TikTok was also relatively stable at 28 minutes per visitor per day
(March 2022: 29 minutes), the number of visitors grew to 45% (22.3 million) of UK internet users
aged 15+, up from 36% (18 million) in March 2022. Most of this growth was driven by visitors aged
over 25. 21 Among children, 14% of 3-12-year-olds said they used TikTok in Q1 2023 – a two-
percentage-point decrease year on year – while the figure for 13-14-year-olds was 40% (Q1 2022:
39%). This suggests that growth in TikTok reach among young people has slowed. 22
There were clear demographic differences in the time spent on social video platforms. Older adult
visitors to Facebook and Messenger spent more time than 15-24-year-olds on those platforms, while
15-24-year-old visitors to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat spent more time than older
visitors on these platforms. In March 2023 5.2 million 15-24-year-olds visited TikTok, spending an
average of 58 minutes per day; stable since March 2022 (57 minutes). Similarly, 5.4 million 15-24-
year-olds visited Snapchat, spending an average of 52 minutes per day. By comparison, 15-24-year-

21
© Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, 1-31 March 2022 and 2023, adults aged 15+, UK.
22
The Insights Family UK, Age 3-12, Q1 2022 and 2023: 1 January – 31 March. Question: Which of these sites
and social networks do you use?
21
olds who visited Facebook and Instagram spent 18 minutes and 25 minutes on those platforms
respectively.

Figure 16: Time spent per day on selected social video platforms, by age: March 2023 (minutes)

58
52
48 48
43
39 40
37 36
34
31
28 28 26
25
23
20 18 19
18 17
14 13 12
10 11
8 8 8 8
6
4 4 4 2 4 5 4 4 3
1 0

Facebook & Instagram Snapchat TikTok Twitch YouTube

Messenger
15+ 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Source: © Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, 1-31 March 2023, adults aged 15+, UK. TV set
and smart display use not included. Custom-defined list by Ofcom. Time spent includes viewing video,
communicating, scrolling and any other activity on the platform. Time spent per day represents average
minutes per visitor per month divided by total days within month.

Four in five UK teens and adults say they watch content on

YouTube
Ofcom’s VoD Survey found that 81% of UK teens and adults said that they watched content on
YouTube across a three-month period. Videos up to 15 minutes long were the most popular form of
content on YouTube (53%), followed by videos longer than 15 minutes (45%). 23
The survey also found that 7% of teens and adults used Facebook Watch and 1% watched Snapchat
Originals. Snapchat announced the closure of its Snap Originals division in August 2022, and
similarly, in May 2023, Meta announced that it would shut down its Facebook Watch Originals, as
both companies sought to cut spend following a reduction in their advertising revenues.

23Ofcom VoD Survey 2023: A bespoke survey of 2203 online adults and teens which looks at VoD service use
and VoD provider perceptions. Fieldwork conducted 22-27 February 2023. ‘Three-month period’ refers to
December 2022 – February 2023.
22
Figure 17: Forms of content viewed on YouTube, by UK teens and adults: December 2022 –
February 2023

68%
63%65%
58% 59% 60%
57% 56%
53% 52%
49%
45% 44% 44%
40%
36%36% 36% 37%35% 35%
32% 33% 32%30%32%
28%
23%23% 25%
20% 20% 19%
15%
11%
6%

Programmes or films (full length YouTube videos longer than 15 YouTube videos up to 15 YouTube Shorts
not clips/ highlights) minutes (but not full length minutes long (but not YouTube
programmes or films) Shorts)

13+ 13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+

Source: Ofcom VoD Survey 2023. Question: What form of content have you watched on YouTube in the past 3
months [December 2022 – February 2023] Base: all respondents. Fieldwork conducted 22-27 February 2023. ‘I
have not used YouTube in the past 3 months’ and ‘Don’t know’ not shown. Note: ‘Full-length programmes or
films’ does not include clips; YouTube videos longer than 15 minutes does not include full length programmes or
films; and YouTube videos up to 15 minutes long does not include YouTube Shorts.

A third of online adults in Britain report watching short-form

content daily
Short-form video (videos shorter than ten minutes) was watched daily by more than a third (38%) of
online adults in Great Britain 24 aged 15+, from late 2022 to early 2023, with viewing skewing more to
younger audiences; 68% of 15-24-year-olds claimed to watch short-form videos daily, compared to
14% of those aged 65+.
YouTube remains the most popular short-form social video platform. It was used by 68% of internet
users aged 15+ for watching videos lasting less than ten minutes. Facebook (49%) and Instagram
(31%) are also used by many for watching short-form video. The popularity of Instagram and TikTok
skews heavily towards younger viewers. Instagram (63%) was second in use only to YouTube among
15-17-year-olds, followed by TikTok (50%). 25

News and ‘how-to’ content dominate short-form video viewing

Among adults who watched short-form content at least once a month, the most popular genre was
‘how-to’ videos (64%), followed by news (63%) and videos uploaded by the general public (59%).
Preferences varied by age group. For example, videos uploaded by the general public were most
popular among 15-34-year-olds (72%), probably helped by the popularity of TikTok. ‘How-to’ videos

24 The use of a mixture of data sources in this section mean that some survey samples are from Great Britain
only (England, Scotland and Wales) while other are for the UK as a whole (all four nations, including Northern
Ireland).
25 IPA TouchPoints 2023 SuperHub. Base: all GB adults aged 15+ who have been online in past 12 months.

23
were most popular with 35-44-year-olds (68%) and women (66%), but news was the most-viewed
content among all viewers aged 45+ (65%). 26

Figure 18: Genres viewed at least monthly by adults who watch short video content online
"How to" (e.g. recipes, DIY) 64%
News 63%
Videos uploaded by the general public 59%
Videos uploaded by friends/family 54%
Music 54%
Videos/vlogs uploaded by social media influencers followed 48%
Videos from comedy programmes 45%
Videos from entertainment programmes 41%
Videos/vlogs uploaded by companies followed 39%
Sports including interviews 37%
Videos from chat shows 36%
Videos from drama programmes 30%
Clips from video games 28%

Source: IPA TouchPoints 2023 SuperHub (September – November 2022 and January – March 2023). GB adults
15+. Base: all adults who watch short video or online content of less than ten minutes on any device at least
monthly.

Funny clips remain the most popular type of content viewed on YouTube by children aged 3-12, with
49% claiming to view these, a seven-percentage-point increase year on year. YouTubers (such as Mr
Beast and PewDiePie) were the second most popular category, at 44%, while music videos came in
third at 36%. Unlike among older age groups, ‘how-to’ or tutorial videos were much less popular
among 3-12-year-olds, with only 14% of them choosing to watch this content. 27

Figure 19: Types of videos viewed on YouTube by 3-12-year-olds: Q1 2023

49%
44%

36%

28%
26%

15% 15% 14%

9% 8% 7%
6% 6% 5% 4%
2%

Source: The Insights Family UK. Age 3-12. Multi-choice question: What type of videos do you watch on
YouTube? Q1: 1 January – 31 March 2023. Base: 1696.

26 IPA TouchPoints 2023 SuperHub. Base: all GB adults who watch short-form video or online content of less
than ten minutes on any device at least monthly.
27 The Insights Family UK, Age 3-12, Q1: 1 January – 31 March 2023.

24
Audience attitudes and sentiments

Overall, audiences continue to be broadly satisfied with public

service broadcasting
When asked to think about PSB channels overall, about seven in ten (69%) 28 PSB viewers 29 said they
were satisfied with them. Since 2021 there has been a slight reduction in those stating they are
dissatisfied with PSBs (down from 12% to 10%), driven largely by 16-34-year-olds (11% to 7%).
Looking at demographic differences in 2022, those aged 75+ (76%), in socio-economic group ABC1
(73%), with white ethnic backgrounds (70%) and women (73%) were more likely to be satisfied with
PSBs overall, compared to the UK total (69%).

Figure 20: Satisfaction with PSBs overall and by age: 2022

Source: Ofcom’s Public Service Media Tracker 2022. Question 28: And now, if you think about ALL the public
service broadcaster channels combined, how satisfied are you that combined they provide the different
elements asked about in the previous question? Base: All who have watched PSB channel/service in last six
months: UK total (2,826), 16-24 (279), 25-34 (420), 35-44 (454), 45-54 (495), 55-64 (506), 65-74 (402), 75+
(270).

Across the individual PSB channels, Channel 4 (79%) continued to have the highest levels of
satisfaction among its viewers, followed by ITV 30 (76%), BBC One (75%) and Channel 5 (70%), all
largely consistent with 2021 figures.

In 2022, public service broadcasters were seen to bring the

nation together
Overall, PSB viewers continue to say that PSBs deliver well across a range of attributes. Among those
who had used a PSB service in the past six months, PSBs were seen to deliver well on ‘programmes

28 Ofcom’s Public Service Media Tracker 2022.

29 PSB viewers are defined as all who have watched a PSB channel/service in the last six months.
30
At the time of fieldwork for the PSM Tracker, ITV’s PSB channel was called ITV. It rebranded in late 2022 to
ITV1.
25
made for UK audiences’ (69%), ‘a wide range of different types of programmes’ (67%) and
‘programmes that help me understand what is going on in the world today’ (65%); findings
consistent with 2021. There was also an increase in how PSBs were seen to deliver on ‘broadcast
events that bring the nation together for a shared viewing experience’ compared to 2021 (increasing
from 61% to 65%). This may be linked to viewing of large-scale national events, such as the FIFA
World Cup, the Platinum Jubilee and the state funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II. 31
Looking at individual broadcasters, the BBC and ITV TV channels continue to deliver well across PSB
attributes, and attitudes are broadly stable year on year. However, viewers’ perceptions of the
delivery of PSB attributes by Channel 4 and Channel 5 TV channels improved compared to 2021. For
example, viewers of Channel 4 TV channels were more likely to say that these delivered well in
providing ‘programmes which feature people from different backgrounds’ (increasing from 57% to
60%), programmes that ‘appeals to a wide range of audiences’ (increasing from 54% to 58%) and
‘programmes that help me understand what is going on in the world’ (increasing from 51% to 56%),
among others. Channel 5 TV channels were seen to deliver ‘programmes that are different in their
approach to other providers’ (increasing from 41% to 44%) and ‘programmes I can watch and talk
about with people I know’ (increasing from 40% to 43%), among others.

Figure 21: Proportion of PSB viewers who rated the delivery of different attributes of PSBs ‘well’
(NET 7-10): 2022

Source: Ofcom’s Public Service Media Tracker 2022. Question 24. “Thinking about each broadcaster individually
on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means extremely badly and 10 means extremely well, how well or badly does it
provide…?” Base: All who have watched… in last six months: BBC TV channels (2,666), ITV/STV/UTV and ITV
channels (2,611), Channel 4 TV channels (2,599), Channel 5 TV channels (2,313). Please note, this is a selection
of attributes, rather than the top-rated attributes for each PSB.

31 Barb.
26
A lack of interest in the available content is the main reason
people do not watch PSB channels
Those who said they had not watched any PSB channels in the last six months were asked an open
question about why they had not, for individual PSB channels. The top two reasons cited across all
channels were the available programmes not being of interest, and not watching live TV and
preferring to record/watch online or use other streaming services.
People said:

“I often can't find programmes that I want to watch. It's easier to find
the things you want on Netflix or Prime Video”
(Man, 28 years old – ITV)
“I don't watch normal TV and haven't for quite some time. My go-to is
Netflix and my daughter goes straight for YouTube”
(Woman, 31 years old – Channel 5)

BVoD is still most commonly used as a catch-up service

A majority of UK audiences (74%) said it was important that public service broadcasters provide
catch up, on-demand or streaming services. Four in five (82%) of those who had viewed the service
in the last six months said they were satisfied with BBC iPlayer, followed by 75% for All 4, 73% for ITV
Hub 32 and 68% for My5.
The most common reason given by BVoD viewers 33 for using services was to ‘to catch up on
programmes I missed on TV’ (66%), followed by being able ‘to watch what I want, when I want’
(51%) and to ‘watch specific programmes or box-sets’ (40%). A third (33%) said they used them
because ‘it doesn’t require a subscription’, a six-percentage-point increase from 2021 to 2022.
Although not a main reason cited for using BVoD services (18%), three-quarters of respondents
(75%) said they were aware that they could watch live TV on these services. About half (55%) said
they used this function on BBC iPlayer, 41% saying the same for ITV Hub, 33% for All 4 and 30% for
My5.
Overall, each of the PSB VoDs were perceived as delivering well across the key attributes. Some of
the highest performing statements included ‘a wide range of different types of programmes, such as
drama, comedy, entertainment or sport’, ‘programmes made for UK audiences’, ‘provides services
that are easy to find my way around’ and ‘easy to find something I want to watch’. However, there
were some differences between the services.

32
At the time of fieldwork for the Public Service Media Tracker, Channel 4’s BVoD service was called All 4 or All
4+ and ITV’s BVoD was ITV Hub or ITV Hub+.
33
BVoD viewers are defined as those who have watched at least one BVoD service in the last six months.
27
Figure 22: Proportion of BVoD viewers who rated the delivery of different attributes of BVoD
services ‘well’ (NET 7-10): 2022

Source: Ofcom’s Public Service Media Tracker 2022. Question 35. Thinking about each broadcaster TV catch-up,
on-demand or streaming service individually on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means extremely badly and 10
means extremely well, how well or badly does it provide…? Base: All who have watched … in last six months:
BBC iPlayer (2,204), ITV Hub or ITV Hub+ (1,738), All 4 or All 4+ (1,475), My5 (1,127). Please note, this is a
selection of attributes, rather than the top-rated attributes for each BVoD service.

Year on year, there have been improvements on several statements across the different services. For
BBC iPlayer, this was particularly on statements related to diversity, such as ‘programmes that
feature people like me’ (increasing from 49% to 56%) and ‘programmes that feature people from
different backgrounds’ (increasing from 62% to 66%). ITV Hub also saw improvements on these
statements, as well as across statements such as ‘programmes that help me understand what is
going on in the world today’ (increasing from 52% to 57%), ‘programmes that are different in their
approach to other providers’ (increasing from 45% to 51%) and ‘programmes that are relevant to
me’ (increasing from 57% to 62%). All 4 saw improvements on several statements, including
‘programmes that feature people like me’ (increasing from 47% to 53%).
Across all PSB VoD services, among those who had not watched them in the last six months, the
main reasons given for not using the services were: not being interested in the content available on
them; preferring to watch other services; and not having access to the service. For example, for BBC
iPlayer, 27% said they preferred to watch other services, 20% said they were not interested in the
programmes available, and 15% said they didn’t have access to the service.

SVoD services’ main appeal is unique content, and ease of use

More than half of viewers (53%) reported video-on-demand services as being ‘the main way they
watch programmes and films’. Ofcom’s VoD Survey found that subscribers to SVoD services such as
Netflix did so to watch exclusive content not available elsewhere (35%) and content different to
what was broadcast on TV (33%). These reasons were echoed by Amazon Prime subscribers (26%
and 25% respectively), who also cited free parcel delivery as a major reason (48%). For Disney+ the
reasons included ‘specific programmes only available on the platform’ (34%) and ‘content not
available anywhere else’ (30%).
28
Among its viewers, 34 Netflix was seen to deliver well on ‘appeals to a wide range of different
audiences’ (82%), ‘provides services that are easy to find my way around’ (82%) and ‘easy to find
something I want to watch’ (81%). For Amazon Prime, the two top-rated statements mirrored those
of Netflix: ‘appeals to a wide range of different audiences’ (76%), followed by ‘provides services that
are easy to find my way around’ (74%) and the third being ‘a wide range of different types of
programmes, such as drama, comedy, entertainment or sport’ (72%). Disney+ and NOW also
performed well across these statements.
There are high levels of overall satisfaction for SVoD services; 86% of viewers in the last six months
say they are satisfied with Netflix, with a similar proportion saying the same for Disney+ (82%) and
Amazon Prime Video (80%).
While audiences overall are satisfied with individual SVoD provisions, some express dissatisfaction
with elements of the current VoD landscape. Ofcom’s VoD Survey found that about two-fifths
agreed with the statements: 'there are too many video-on-demand services’ (44%) and ‘I find the
amount of content available on video-on-demand services overwhelming’ (40%). A further 22%
agreed they ‘spent too much money subscribing to video-on-demand services’. A slightly lower
proportion of Netflix subscribers were happy with the cost of the service (54%) compared to Amazon
Prime (60%) and Disney+ (59%).
Some viewers reported unsubscribing from SVoD services in the three months before the research
took place (Netflix: 5%, Amazon Prime: 5%, Disney+: 5%). 35 The current cost-of-living crisis may be
influencing these decisions; audiences who had unsubscribed from a service cited SVoD services
increasing their prices (Netflix: 24%), or being too expensive (Netflix: 27%, Amazon Prime: 31%,
Disney+: 23%), or not being used enough to warrant the expense any more (Amazon Prime: 29%,
Disney+: 30%). While some audiences are unsubscribing, most (67%) said ‘they would miss video-on-
demand services if they were no longer available’. Audiences’ reluctance to give up these services,
despite the cost, may explain the plateauing of subscriptions to SVoD services, reported earlier.

34 Defined as those who have watched the service in the last six months.
35 Ofcom VoD Survey 2023.
29
TV and video industry trends
Introduction: the post-pandemic bounce-back has
given way to new challenges across the industry
Following record revenue growth in 2021, fortunes in 2022 were mixed; the audiovisual industry
maintained some momentum in the early part of the year, before macro-economic factors combined
to make trading conditions much more challenging. This growth in 2021 enabled broadcasters –
which were among the players worst affected by the pandemic in 2020 – to mount a significant
recovery, driven by renewed interest in TV advertising, while providers of subscription and ad-
supported online TV and video services surged during the extended periods of lockdown. However,
the economic downturn that began in 2022 had a negative bearing on performances across the
industry, leading to some re-evaluation of the growth ceiling for streaming services and tech
companies more broadly.
This section quantifies the revenue generated across different sectors of the TV and online video
market, and examines some of the underlying industry trends, across advertising, broadcasting (PSB
in particular) and online video.

How we present financial data

Financial data quoted in this report is primarily presented in nominal terms, meaning
that historical data has not been adjusted to account for inflation.
For those who wish to see how inflation has historically affected the value of the
industry, our interactive report enables financial data to be viewed in either nominal or
‘real’ (CPI-adjusted) terms, with users easily able to switch between the two.

Industry revenues

Commercial broadcasters suffered small revenue declines in a

difficult economic environment
Following their strong 2021 rebound from the heavy Covid-19-related disruption of the previous
year, the commercial broadcast TV sector was unable to sustain revenue growth in 2022. Combined
revenues for commercial PSBs, digital multichannels and pay-TV platform operators declined by
1.8% to £11.1bn. This was 2.6% higher than in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, although high
inflation in 2022 complicates nominal-terms comparisons with previous years.
For the commercial PSB channels and many digital multichannels which rely primarily on income
from advertising, the downturn in the UK economy in the second half of 2022 – with a recession
narrowly avoided – was a key factor in their revenue declines, as growth in the first half of the year
could not be maintained. ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 collectively generated £97m less than in
2021, but the £2.3bn annual total was still the second-highest since 2017.
The difficult advertising market also affected the online video sector. Following its 80% surge in
2021, online video advertising achieved more modest, although still double-digit, revenue growth of

30
14.7% in 2022, increasing to £2.7bn. 36 This exceeded revenue generated by the commercial PSBs and
digital multichannel broadcasters, respectively, for the first time. SVoD, meanwhile, was the primary
driver of overall audiovisual market growth in 2022, generating £578m more than in 2021, or £3.3bn
in total, with this increase driven more by price rises than customer growth, which has significantly
slowed.
Pay-TV platform operators, such as Sky, Virgin Media and BT, still make up the largest single sector
of the audiovisual market, with their 2022 revenue of £6.5bn down 1.1% year on year but still
£186m above 2019 levels.
The net result of these sectors’ respective performances was that total commercial TV and online
video revenue increased by 4.5% in 2022 to £17.3bn, with online video services, across subscription,
ad-supported and transactional, increasing their market share to 36%, compared to 15% in 2017.

Figure 23: Commercial TV broadcast and online revenue: 2017-2022

18 £17.34bn
£16.60bn £0.30bn
Growth
16
£0.28bn YoY CAGR
£2.66bn 2021-2022 2017-2022
£14.03bn £2.32bn
£13.96bn
14 £13.47bn Total 4.5% 6.2%
£12.86bn £0.35bn £0.40bn
£0.33bn
£0.83bn £1.12bn £1.28bn £3.26bn
£0.30bn £2.68bn
12 £0.66bn Digital transactional 8.1% 0.4%
£0.99bn £1.25bn £1.66bn
£2.11bn
Revenue (£bn)

10 £2.25bn £2.39bn £2.29bn Online video advertising 14.7% 32.2%

£2.25bn £2.21bn
£1.95bn
8 Subscription VoD 21.5% 26.9%
£2.52bn £2.47bn £2.35bn £2.40bn £2.37bn
£2.07bn
6 Commericial PSBs -4.1% 0.4%

Digital multichannels -1.3% -1.2%

4
£6.15bn £6.34bn £6.28bn £6.22bn £6.54bn £6.47bn
Platform operators -1.1% 1.0%
2

0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters (broadcast data), Ampere Analysis and IAB UK PwC Digital Adspend Study (online
data). Figures are presented in nominal terms and replace previous Ofcom revenue data for the TV and online
video industry, owing to restatements and improvements in methodologies. Values for ‘platform operators’
include Ofcom’s estimates of pay-TV revenues. This does not include NOW, which is within subscription VoD.
Platform operators’ data prior to 2019 is not comparable to subsequent years, owing to a change in
methodology in Sky reporting coinciding with its change in ownership to Comcast. ‘Digital multichannels’
include non-PSB channels and commercial PSB portfolio channels. ‘Commercial PSB channels’ comprise the
following: ITV, STV, ITV Breakfast, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C. Online video advertising does not include
‘outstream’ video advertising delivered on non-video services; the 2022 figure has been modelled, based on the
IAB UK historical data, by Ofcom to be comparable with the definition used in previous years. Totals may not
equal the sum of the components due to rounding.

36This figure excludes ‘outstream’ video advertising delivered on non-video services, in line with the definition
of online video advertising used in previous years. Analysis of the market using IAB’s updated definitions and
segmentation can be found in the advertising market trends section of this section.
31
Advertising market trends

A tale of two halves in 2022, as early growth turned to

contraction
There were mixed performances in the different sectors of the advertising market, and these also
varied significantly over the course of the year, ultimately resulting in overall advertising expenditure
increasing by 8.8% in 2022, to £34.8bn. This was primarily driven by online, which rose by 11.1% and
accounted for the vast majority of the £2.8bn increase. Other contributors to the growth – on a
much smaller scale – were out-of-home (+£280m), cinema (+£127m), radio (+£15m), and direct mail
(+£13m), while TV (-£189m), newspapers (-£40m) and magazines (-£9m) all declined.
However, the annual figures do not tell the full story. Strong growth (26%) in the first half of the year
was followed by a market contraction of 5.7% in the second half, in part reflecting a particularly
strong H2 2021, but also the pressures of economic stagnation and high inflation taking their toll on
advertising budgets. Online ad spend followed this trend, growing by 30.1% in H1 and declining by
5.4% in H2, with spend on social media falling for the first time. With the macro-economic
environment remaining challenging in 2023, the outlook according to the Advertising Association /
WARC is for minimal growth this year, before an expected recovery in 2024.

Figure 24: UK advertising expenditure: 2017-2022

40

£34.77bn
35
£31.96bn £0.66bn
£0.70bn
£1.09bn
£0.65bn £1.18bn
30 £0.74bn
£1.08bn
£0.90bn Cinema
£25.32bn
25 £23.73bn £0.64bn
£23.76bn Radio
£22.29bn
Expenditure (£bn)

£0.67bn £1.16bn £0.53bn

£0.64bn £1.28bn £1.38bn £0.73bn
£0.91bn
Magazines (print)
£1.55bn £1.30bn £0.70bn
20 £1.44bn
£1.21bn
Newspapers (print)
£1.70bn
£1.14bn £26.12bn Direct mail
£23.50bn
15
Out of home
£13.60bn £15.66bn £16.70bn
£11.79bn Online
10
TV (excluding VoD)
5
£4.81bn £4.72bn £4.48bn £3.88bn £4.73bn £4.54bn
0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: AA/WARC Advertising Expenditure report. Figures are presented in nominal terms. Online is total
internet as defined by IAB UK. All digital ad expenditure (e.g. broadcaster video advertising, publisher display
and classifieds) has been removed from TV, newspapers and magazines to avoid double-counting between
these categories and online. TV includes spot advertising, sponsorship and placement.

TV weathers the storm, as growth for broadcaster VoD

continues
Following its resurgence in 2021, the TV advertising market, including broadcaster video-on-demand
(BVoD), suffered a small decline in 2022, with expenditure falling by 1.4% to £5.38bn, reflecting the
difficult economic environment, as well as a recalibration of the market following the pandemic’s
skewing of typical trends. Advertising revenue generated by BVoD services increased by 15.4% to

32
£845m, but this was not enough to compensate for a 4% fall in linear TV ad revenue, resulting in the
small overall decline in total TV advertising.
The advertising sectors that recorded the biggest reductions in their TV ad spend were leisure
equipment (-£49m), drink (-£45m), business and industrial (-£38m) and motor vehicles (-£36m).
Declines for these and other sectors were partially offset by increases in spend for, most notably,
travel and transport (+£162m), as well as telecoms (+£42m) and cosmetics and personal care
(+£34m), among other sectors.
Although TV ad spend remains higher than its pre-2021 peak, its share of display advertising has
fallen to 28%, having been consistently falling since peaking at 45% in 2013. This is primarily a
reflection of the continued growth of online advertising – including video and other forms of online
display, such as banner advertising – in contrast to TV’s smaller year-to-year fluctuations over the
past decade.

Online video advertising on non-broadcaster services is now

on par with total TV ad spend
Total online video advertising expenditure (instream and outstream), excluding that spent on BVoD,
increased by 10.8% in 2022 to reach £5.25bn, a figure comparable to the amount spent on TV, as
shown in Figure 25 below. Some of this competes with TV budgets, but – for big brands in particular
– online is not a substitute for TV’s significant audience reach, its credibility as a trusted medium
that infers quality, and its high attention levels and completion rates. A significant proportion of
online video advertising revenues comes from smaller advertisers who do not usually buy TV
advertising spots; however, new addressable TV ad formats are slowly making TV more accessible to
them. In 2022, 959 advertisers used TV for the first time, with 1,268 having done so in 2021. 37
Growth for BVoD comes as advertisers increasingly include it in their campaigns to extend their
reach beyond using linear TV alone, particularly to target younger audiences (16-34-year-olds
accounted for 24% of BVoD viewing in 2022 and just 9% of linear TV viewing) and those in higher
socio-economic groups (ABC1’s accounted for 62% of BVoD viewing compared to 51% of linear). 38
However, as highlighted in the previous section, younger audiences spend a greater proportion of
their viewing time on social video services, such as YouTube and TikTok, than they do on TV and
BVoD, a dynamic that is helping to drive continued growth in non-BVoD online video advertising,
albeit at a slower rate than in 2022. This includes both instream and outstream / social in-feed
advertising, 39 the latter being less substitutive to TV spend than other online video formats.

37
ThinkBox/PwC: Nielsen Ad Intel / Sky. New-to-TV advertisers are defined as those not advertising on TV in
the preceding five years.
38
Barb, as-viewed.
39
IAB UK defines instream video advertising as a form of display advertising that is streamed media attached
to video content. Online video advertising will only launch when a piece of online video content is viewed. It is
specific to the content against which it is attached and not the static web pages that the content may be
launched from. ‘Outstream’ refers to standalone video ads that sit outside a stream of video content, including
ads that appear on social media feeds, as well as standalone video ads on news websites.
33
Figure 25: UK TV and online video advertising expenditure: 2017-2022
TV (excluding BVoD) BVoD Instream online video (excluding BVoD) Outstream/other Connected TV
£5.46bn £5.38bn £5.25bn
£5.11bn £5.11bn
£4.93bn £0.73bn £4.74bn £0.23bn
£0.30bn £0.39bn £0.85bn
£0.45bn £4.40bn £0.46bn

£0.52bn

£2.94bn £3.24bn
£2.43bn
£4.81bn £4.72bn £4.73bn
£4.48bn £4.54bn £4.56bn
£1.74bn £3.88bn £2.18bn
£1.26bn £1.77bn

£1.35bn
£0.94bn £1.50bn
£0.66bn £0.76bn
£0.32bn £0.40bn

20172017 20182018 20192019 20202020 20212021 20222022

Source: AA/WARC Expenditure Report; IAB UK PwC Digital Adspend Study 2022. Figures are presented in
nominal terms. ‘Instream’ refers to streamed media attached to video content. This can include pre-roll, mid-
roll and post-roll formats. Online video advertising will only launch when a piece of online video content is
viewed. It is specific to the content against which it is attached and not the static web pages that the content
may be launched from. ‘Outstream’ refers to standalone video ads that sit outside a stream of video content,
including ads that appear on social media feeds, as well as standalone video ads on news websites. IAB UK’s
definition of instream was revised in 2022 due to the evolution of social video advertising formats. Where
advertising is inserted between short-form, scrollable content, such as reels, and is dependent on the preceding
or following video content, it is included in the ‘instream’ category.

YouTube is positioning itself to compete more effectively for traditional TV ad spend, building on a
growing presence on TV screens. Viewing of the service is set to be measured alongside
broadcasters’ programming by UK ratings agency Barb, which is seeking to include ‘fit for TV’
content on video sharing platforms in its reporting. Separately, YouTube announced a 30-second
unskippable ad format for its connected TV offering in May 2023. Increased viewing of YouTube and
other non-broadcaster VoD on connected TV, combined with more TV-like advertising opportunities
on these services, are likely to make advertisers more comfortable allocating ad spend to them.
According to IAB UK, connected TV advertising generated £229m in 2022.
SVoD services are likely to emerge in the coming years as a fledgling contributor to online video
advertising. Most of them, as discussed later in this section, have either already introduced ads for
some users or are in the process of rolling out ad-supported tiers. Their contribution to spend is
likely to be limited, at least in the short term, due to the low reach of SVoD ad tiers – although roll-
outs are becoming more aggressive, with Netflix removing its cheapest ad-free tier in the UK in July
2023 – and due to the low ad loads for customers who are exposed to advertising on the services.

34
Broadcasters’ output and spend

Normal operations largely resumed in 2022 following the

extended pandemic disruption, though some lasting impacts
remain
With the year largely free of Covid-19-related restrictions and disruption, broadcasters were able to
return to full production schedules in 2022. This was reflected in growth, both in spend and the
number of hours of first-run PSB originations. Spend totalled £2.9bn, up 10.3% year on year, and
14.2% greater than in 2019. This reflected a high level of output – at 32,712, first-run originated
hours were their highest since 2016 – but it also reflected increased costs for some genres due to
increased competition for them, lingering Covid-related production protocol costs, and inflationary
pressure affecting production-related expenses on staffing and travel.
Growth in spend was driven by an annual increase by each of the five main PSB channels apart from
BBC One, which had a marginal decline (-0.7%) following a significant increase in 2021. The BBC
portfolio of channels was also a significant contributor to overall growth; the 73% increase in spend
on these channels was largely driven by the relaunch of BBC Three as a linear channel in February
2022.
The overall increase in first-run originated hours – which was partly because some programming,
delayed by Covid-19, aired later than originally planned – was more concentrated, driven by BBC
Two, the BBC portfolio channels and Channel 5. There were small decreases for the other channels,
with those for ITV (-0.5%) and Channel 4 (-2%) reflecting the higher cost per hour for certain genres,
and therefore the reduced output the broadcasters were able to deliver, despite increasing their
levels of investment. The extent to which higher costs will be sustained remains unclear, with
concerns in the industry that they are unlikely to fall from their current highs even when inflation
stabilises.

Figure 26: PSB first-run UK-originated spend, by channel: 2017-2022

3,000 £2,880m
£2,586m £2,610m £130m
£2,459m £2,522m Channel 5
2,500 £143m £114m £479m
£105m
£133m
£440m £2,073m £427m Channel 4
£432m
£440m
2,000 £99m
£837m ITV
Spend (£m)

£329m
£755m £784m
£728m £790m
1,500 BBC Portfolio
£633m £227m
£147m £131m
£137m £146m £300m BBC Two
1,000 £241m
£285m £283m £124m
£292m
£202m
BBC One
500 £914m £908m
£730m £815m £764m £687m

0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Figures are presented in nominal terms.

35
Figure 27: PSB first-run UK-originated hours, by channel: 2012-2022

35,000
32,354 32,126 32,491 31,974 32,988 31,770 32,188 31,531 31,626
32,712
29,800
30,000

13,284 12,878 12,525 12,449

25,000 13,304 13,309 12,661 12,159 12,377 11,866
11,825
BBC Portfolio
Hours

20,000
1,702 1,773 2,061 2,064 2,083 2,120 2,483 Channel 5
1,594 1,571 1,965
3,079 2,617 1,933 2,827 2,771
3,305 2,941 2,965 2,789 2,721 2,473 Channel 4
15,000 2,072

5,108 4,911 5,056 5,112 5,100 5,068 5,122 5,331 5,305 ITV
5,133 5,015
10,000
2,800 2,963 3,190 3,140 3,184 3,248 3,100 2,592 2,949 3,224 BBC Two
3,457
5,000 BBC One
5,561 6,397 6,666 6,505 6,718 6,542 6,647 6,494 6,363 6,533 6,480
0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Figures exclude BBC ALBA and programming for the nations and regions.

Sports and drama were among the genres receiving increased

investment, boosting volumes of programming for each
There were several major sporting events in 2022, including the FIFA World Cup, the Women’s Euros
and the Winter Olympics. These events, together with a high volume of other, more regular sport on
TV, resulted in PSBs’ first-run originated hours of sports programming reaching their highest level in
the past decade, at 3,367 hours. This represented 10% of all first-run originated hours on PSB
channels; 2014 was the last year in which sports reached this proportion. Spend on sports in 2022
totalled £614m, which was up 4% on 2021 and 26% higher than in 2018, the last year to feature both
a football World Cup and the Winter Olympics.
The volume of first-run originated drama programming on PSB channels, meanwhile, reached its
highest level since 2016, at 407 hours, illustrating the increasing value of this genre to broadcasters.
Spend rose to £339m in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 47%, and 16.6% higher than in 2019.
Another genre with a notable increase in first-run originated hours was factual entertainment. Here,
output has been consistently rising; the 1,749 hours in 2022 were the highest for a decade, up 10.1%
year-on-year and 57% higher than in 2019. The genre’s share of first-run originated PSB hours
increased to 5%, compared to an average 3% between 2012 and 2020.

36
Figure 28: PSB first-run UK-originated spend, by genre: 2017-2022

3,000 £2,880m
£2,586m £2,610m Religion & ethics
£2,459m £2,522m
£172m Education
2,500
£132m £188m Feature films
£188m £204m £2,073m £178m £233m Arts & classical music
£198m
2,000 £164m £163m £224m Children's
£180m £187m £272m
Spend (£m)

£198m £164m Comedy

£188m £284m
£262m £147m £339m
1,500 £248m £274m Specialist factual
£172m £231m
£261m £200m General factual
£307m £291m £376m
£343m Factual entertainment
1,000 £336m £248m
£318m £353m Soaps
£341m £405m £440m
£414m Drama
£411m £374m
500 News & current affairs
£353m
£488m £591m £614m Entertainment
£353m £415m
£257m Sports
0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Figures are presented in nominal terms.

Figure 29: Genre mix of PSB first-run UK-originated hours: 2012-2022

Feature films
4% 5% 4% 4% 4% 5% 4% 3% 4%
4% 4% 4% 5% Education
3% 3% 3% 3% 4% 3% 3% 4% 5%
8% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 7% 6% Religion & ethics
8% 8% 8%
10% 10% 11% 11% 10% Comedy
11% 10% 10% 10% 10% 11%
5% Arts & classical music
10% 8% 9% 7% 9% 7% 9% 10%
9% 8% Drama
Children's
Soaps
Specialist factual
61% 64% Factual entertainment
57% 58% 57% 58% 58% 59% 59% 59% 58%
Entertainment
General factual
Sports
News & current affairs

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Figures exclude BBC ALBA and programming for the nations and regions.

Children’s first-run originated hours on PSB channels have

fallen to their lowest levels
In contrast to the record highs for some genres, outlined above, the volume of first-run UK
originated children’s programming on PSB channels dropped to its lowest level in 2022, down to 518
hours compared to 640 in 2019. First-run acquisitions have not compensated for the general decline,
with total first-run children’s hours in 2022, 2021 and 2020 the three lowest figures over the past
decade. Levels of investment in the genre have also been falling over the long term. Although 2022
spend (£80m) was up on 2021 (+9.6%), it was lower than in 2019 (-2.4%) and lower than in any of
the years between 2012 and 2016. Analysis of spend over this longer period in real terms (i.e.
accounting for inflation) illustrates the long-term decline more clearly, as shown in Figure 30 below.

37
Figure 30: PSB children’s programming first-run hours and real terms spend: 2012-2022

First-run UK originated hours First-run acquired hours Total first-run spend (real terms)
1,200 £114m £113m 120
£110m £108m
£102m
1,000 £95m £93m 100
£89m
316 377 347 £80m £80m
800 306 364 80
431
288 165 £68m

Spend (£m)
265 302
Hours

600 60
296

400 40
693 666 672 673 664 640
580 575 525
520 518
200 20

0 0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Spend figures are presented in real terms (CPI-adjusted to account for inflation).

Funding of UK children’s programming more broadly was affected by the closure of the BFI Young
Audiences Content Fund in January 2022, following the conclusion of the three-year term for this
pilot scheme. The fund was worth a total of £44m and was aimed at creating opportunities for
production in the UK so that innovative content that otherwise would not be made could be created
by new and diverse voices. It supported the creation of quality, distinctive public service content for
under-18s and 144 development projects in total between 2019 and 2022, including PSB children’s
productions such as Makeaway Takeaway and The Sound Collector on CITV.

ITV’s children’s channel CITV has historically been an important source of children’s content from
the PSBs outside their main channels. However, in March 2023, ITV announced plans to close CITV
and move most of its children’s content online, to a dedicated children’s section of its ITVX
streaming service. This strategic decision is in response to declining linear viewing by children,
evidenced by Ofcom analysis in the previous section of this report. ITVX Kids was launched in July
2023, with a different user experience to the main streaming service, accessible via profiles
specifically designed for child users. ITV has stated that ITVX Kids will offer 1,000 hours of
programming, although it is not yet clear how much of this will be new UK-originated content.
Following the launch, the closure of CITV is scheduled to take place in autumn 2023. However, some
children’s programmes will remain on the linear ITV portfolio, via an existing children’s programming
block on ITVBe that will continue, and a new early-morning children’s block on ITV2 that is set to air
from September.

ITV’s move to shift its children’s offering from linear to online follows an announcement by the BBC
to execute a similar strategy. In 2022, as part of its broader digital-first strategy, the BBC signalled its
intentions to move its main children’s channel, CBBC, online. No final date for CBBC’s linear switch-
off has been announced, but the BBC has indicated that it will not take place before mid-2025 at the
earliest. Like ITV, the BBC has plans to maintain some children’s programmes on linear, with the
CBeebies channel continuing to air. The BBC has also adapted its approach to the provision of
children’s programming: in 2022, it asked Ofcom for a modest decrease in the originations quota on
CBBC, in order to invest in original UK animations while increasing animation acquisitions in the
short term, a request that was approved by Ofcom in May 2022.

38
Third-party spend reached its highest levels in 2022, with
investment in drama driving growth
While PSBs’ direct spend on first-run UK-originated content increased in 2022, as outlined above, so
too did contributions from other sources. Third-party spend – which comes from sources such as co-
productions with other commissioners, government high-end TV tax credit, deficit financing and
advances from independent producers – reached its highest annual total, at £680m. This was up 41%
compared to 2021’s £483m, and represented 19% of total PSB origination spend, up from 9% in
2014.
The increase in third-party spend was driven by drama, which accounted for 69% of total third-party
investment, reflecting the continued interest in high-end scripted programming as a focus of co-
productions. Meanwhile, an increase in third-party children’s spend represented a more positive
development for funding of the genre than some of those outlined in the previous section. This
increase made children’s the second-largest contributor to third-party spend, accounting for 10% of
it, marginally ahead of factual.

Figure 31: PSB spend on first-run originations, by direct spend and third-party contributions: 2017-
2022

£3,560m

£3,045m £3,071m £3,093m £680m

£2,869m
£459m £549m £483m
£410m £2,555m

£482m Third-party spend

Direct spend

£2,880m
£2,459m £2,586m £2,522m £2,610m
£2,073m

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Third-party spend includes funding from sources such as co-productions, high-end
TV tax credit, and distributor advances. Figures are presented in nominal terms. Spend figures exclude BBC
ALBA and programming for the nations and regions.

Production sector trends

Production sector revenues reached a new high of £3.8bn in 2022, according to the
latest figures from Pact and Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates, which are available in our
interactive report. We have commissioned an in-depth study to further our
understanding of the production sector, which will be published later in 2023.

39
Increased competition in news broadcasting saw the genre
buck the trend of declines in multichannel programming spend
Content spending trends on multichannel TV did not follow those of PSB in 2022, with collective
spend across key genres (see Figure 32 below) declining by 5% year on year to £4.5bn. As a result,
spend remains below the 2019 level, when it was close to £5bn.
There were declines for all the key genres except news. Provision of news on multichannel TV has
become more competitive in recent years; new market entrants have contributed to multichannel
news programming spend reaching its highest levels, at £189m in 2022, up 42% on the previous high
of £134m in 2021.

Figure 32: Multichannel programming spend for selected key genres: 2017-2022

£4,952m
5,000 £4,789m £4,810m £4,773m
£123m £4,419m £4,536m
4,500 £101m £124m £405m £134m
£332m £346m £287m £189m
£121m £279m
4,000 £423m Music
£930m £918m £955m £930m
3,500 £875m Leisure
£938m Children's
Spend (£m)

3,000
Factual
2,500
News
2,000 Films
£3,269m £3,262m £3,314m £3,249m £3,092m Entertainment
1,500
£2,790m
1,000
Sport

500

0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ofcom/broadcasters. Figures are presented in nominal terms.

Online video market developments

Subscription video-on-demand
Although revenue growth was healthy in 2022, the economics of streaming are
under pressure
While SVoD services have collectively achieved significant success, both in the UK and globally, there
are increasing signs that the market is entering a phase of maturity that poses challenges for future
growth and sustainability.

One of these signs is the overall household take-up of SVoD services appearing to approach a
plateau (discussed in the previous section). But the slowdown in customer growth has not yet had
an adverse impact on revenue growth, which remained strong in 2022. The SVoD sector generated
an estimated £3.3bn in the year, up 21.5% year on year. 40 This was driven by a combination of price

40Ampere Analysis. These figures exclude any revenue generated by advertising on SVoD services, i.e. they are
subscription revenue only. This is received either directly from subscribers, or through agreements with
bundling partners, such as pay-TV providers.
40
rises, notably by Netflix in March 2022 and Amazon in September 2022, 41 and overall growth in
subscriptions, which increased from 39.7 million in Q4 2021 to 42.2 million in Q4 2022. 42 Netflix
accounted for half of all SVoD revenue in 2022, with the four largest services (Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video, Disney+ and NOW) taking a 93% market share.

Figure 33: UK SVoD revenues, by service: 2017-2022

3,500
£3,258m
£228m Others
3,000
£2,680m £253m
NOW
£87m £383m
2,500 £218m
£2,114m Disney+
£275m
£27m
Revenue (£m)

2,000 £204m £778m Amazon

£1,656m £129m £713m
£27m
1,500 £207m £606m Netflix
£1,247m
£23m £474m
£992m £172m
1,000 £15m
£138m £355m £1,616m
£303m £1,387m
500 £1,147m
£948m
£698m
£535m
0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Ampere Analysis. Figures are presented in nominal terms. Subscription revenue only. Others include (in
years in which the services were available) Apple TV+, Discovery+, BritBox, Crunchyroll, Paramount+ and ITV
Hub+/ITVX. Amazon Prime Video revenue is estimated based on users of the service – revenue is not ascribed to
Amazon Prime customers who do not claim to use Prime Video (e.g. subscribe only for the unlimited express
shipping).

Despite continued revenue growth, SVoD business models are under pressure as attracting and
retaining customers becomes more challenging, with providers increasingly looking to identify new
revenue-generating opportunities, better manage costs, and focus on profitability.

Pure subscription models are giving way to hybrid strategies that embrace
advertising
In a bid to sustain subscriber growth and boost customer retention, as well as create a new source of
revenue, SVoD providers are incorporating advertising into their services. Netflix launched its
advertising-supported tier, originally ‘Basic with adverts’ but subsequently enhanced and rebranded
as ‘Standard with adverts’, in 12 markets in November 2022, pricing it at £4.99 a month in the UK.
Disney+’s ad-supported tier launched in the US in December and is set to roll out internationally in
the second half of 2023. According to reports in June 2023, Amazon is also planning an ad tier. The
company already sells ads alongside its live sports content, and operates a free-to-view advertising
VoD (AVoD) service, Freevee, launched in September 2021 as IMDb TV. The new ad tier would be for
Amazon’s core Prime Video service and would sell advertising against its scripted programming.

Among the smaller services, Discovery+ introduced a lower-priced ‘AdLite’ tier (priced at £3.99 a
month) in March 2022, before removing it and including advertising as standard. Sky’s NOW has

41 The monthly price of Netflix’s Basic and Standard tiers increased by £1, to £6.99 and £10.99, while its
Premium tier increased by £2 to £15.99; the monthly price of Amazon Prime increased by £1 to £8.99.
42 Barb Establishment Survey. Across Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, NOW, Apple TV+, Discovery+,

Paramount+, BritBox and HayU.

41
been ad-supported since March 2021, with customers needing to subscribe to the Boost add-on (£5
a month) to receive the ad-free experience.

Netflix’s new ad-supported tier appears to have reasonably strong early appeal in the UK. According
to Ofcom’s VoD Survey of online adults and teens, 13% of subscribers surveyed in February said that
they were taking the new ad plan, with the proportion rising to 20% among 35-44-year-olds, higher
than for the Premium tier in that age demographic. The £10.99-a-month Standard tier is still the
most popular overall, with just over a third taking it, although older subscribers (55+) are more likely
to take the Basic tier. By May 2023, global take-up of Netflix’s ad tier had reportedly reached 5
million monthly active users across the 12 markets in which it is offered.

Figure 34: UK Netflix subscribers by plan subscribed to, by age: February 2023

17% 17%
20% 25% 14%
28%
% Netflix subscribers*

Don't know
34% 26%
36% Premium
34%
40% Standard
35%
Basic
27% 38% Basic with adverts**
27% 32%
21% 20%

20%
13% 12% 10% 14%
9%

13+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Source: Ofcom VoD Survey 2023. Online adults/teens aged 13+. *All adult respondents with a Netflix
subscription paid directly to Netflix. **Since rebranded to ‘Standard with adverts’. Base: 864. Fieldwork
conducted 22-27 February 2023.

Streaming content investments remain high but are becoming more prudent
Having consistently increased its investment in content, Netflix, the SVoD market’s biggest spender,
has said that it is planning to maintain its level of annual spend on original and licenced
programming at about $17bn (£13.4bn), which is what it spent in 2021 and 2022. Netflix’s annual
spend on UK productions averaged $1.5bn (£1.2bn) between 2020 and 2023, according to the
company, significantly higher than its original target of $1bn a year for the market.

Difficult market conditions and limited growth prospects have prompted other SVoD providers to re-
evaluate the extent to which they are investing in streaming content and trim their offerings
accordingly. Disney removed dozens of titles from its catalogue in May 2023, opting for a $1.5bn
content write-off charge to reduce longer-term costs associated with the assets. Similarly, Warner
Bros. Discovery, as part of a significant post-merger restructuring in 2022, announced content write-
offs amounting to between $2.8bn and $3.5bn. Amazon, meanwhile, has also expressed caution on
content spending for Prime Video, including the sustainable management of production budgets.

42
Figure 35: Selected SVoD services’ proportion of content hours, by genre: May 2023

6% 7%
15% 13%
21%
15% 4%
41% 8% 23%
6% 4% 3% 42% 15%
7% Other
11%
Films
6% 36%
39% 31% Factual
11%
44% 34% Entertainment, reality
Drama
10%
25% 14% 20% 54% Comedy

12% Children's
12% 5% 26%
20% 18%
9% 11% 12%

Netflix Amazon Prime Disney+ NOW Apple TV+ Discovery+ Paramount+

Video

Source: Ampere Analysis.

Traditional content licensing has re-emerged as a revenue opportunity

A key selling point of most successful SVoD services that have emerged over the past decade is
access to exclusive original programming; traditional media companies which have entered the
market have been ending (not renewing) licensing deals with rival streamers in order to launch their
own services. However, with the market now maturing, providers are reconsidering the strategy of
maintaining exclusivity over all their original titles, with licensing deals re-emerging as a revenue
stream.
Disney, for instance, has said that it is now considering licensing original content – outside its
flagship franchises – to third parties, and in July 2023 sold the streaming rights to ten series,
including Bones, Scandal and The X-Files, to Channel 4. Warner Bros. Discovery, which currently
licenses HBO programming to Sky in the UK but sells it direct-to-consumer via the Max streaming
service in many international markets, agreed a deal with Netflix in June 2023 for the licensing of
HBO Originals including Insecure, Six Feet Under and Ballers. This apparent trend is not limited to
traditional media companies which have moved into streaming. In April 2023, Apple secured a deal
with French pay-TV provider Canal+ to make Apple Originals available to Canal+ customers without
them having to subscribe to, or use, Apple TV+.
Netflix leads password-sharing crackdowns in a bid to maximise the value of its
users
Following some experimentation with anti-password-sharing measures, Netflix began a wide-scale
roll-out of its crackdown in 2023. UK users accessing the service via the login of someone they do
not live with began to receive emails from Netflix in May 2023, informing them that a Netflix
account is intended for use by one household, and inviting them to either transfer a profile to a new
membership or buy an extra member on the account for an additional £4.99 a month. The initiative
is designed to generate new revenue from non-paying users, of which there are a significant
proportion in the UK: 11% of online adults and teens, according to Ofcom’s VoD Survey.

43
Figure 36: UK Netflix users, by method of subscription/access: February 2023 (% all respondents)

59%
4% Part of bundle with another service (e.g. phone)

13% Part of household pay TV service bill

Paid for directly to Netflix

42%

11%

Paying Netflix subscribers Password-sharing Netflix users

Source: Ofcom VoD Survey 2023. Online adults/teens aged 13+. Base: 2,050. Question: Does your household
subscribe to Netflix? If yes, how is this service paid for in your household? Fieldwork conducted 22-27 February
2023.

Early indications of the strategy’s success internationally appear to vary by market, with the
crackdown in Spain resulting in a drop in users, while in the US it apparently boosted daily sign-ups.
Evaluating the early stages of the initiative across more than 100 countries, Netflix stated in July
2023 that cancel reaction was low and that it was seeing healthy conversion of borrower households
into full paying Netflix memberships, as well as good take-up of the extra member feature. Other
SVoD providers with less mature businesses than Netflix have so far been more hesitant to follow
suit on curbing password sharing, as they continue to seek user growth, but they are likely to be
watching closely to gauge the viability of the strategy.

Broadcaster video-on-demand and free advertising-supported

streaming TV
BVoD service rebrands signal further digital-first shifts among the PSBs
As they steadily build on-demand audiences, broadcasters are seeking to continue to improve their
respective streaming services and transition to an online future. One of the most significant recent
strategic moves illustrating this was ITV’s relaunch of its streaming offering in December 2022
(rolling it out from November). This combined ITV Hub, ITV Hub+ and BritBox into a single service,
ITVX. Users can access an expanded catalogue, including exclusive originals, on either a free (ad-
supported) or subscription basis, via an improved user interface.

The revamp has enabled ITV to significantly expand the volume of content hours in its streaming
catalogue, putting it more on a par with the offerings of the BBC and Channel 4. By May 2023, there
were 13,238 hours of free-to-view programming on ITVX, compared to 9,002 on ITV Hub in October
2022. More than half of the increase in hours came from drama programmes, while ITV also added
692 hours of films, having not previously offered any on ITV Hub.

44
Figure 37: PSB BVoD services’ content hours, by genre: October 2022 and May 2023
Children's Comedy Drama Entertainment, reality Factual Films Other
16,851 17,070
16,247
15,662 1,183
1,242 653 711
1,114
13,238 2,454 2,637
3,343
2,846 692
864

3,935 9,002
4,224 3,900 6,758 6,786
738
6,386 6,595
3,393 3,547 287 958
3,245
5,072
3,299 2,866 3,387 3,099
1,279 1,369
2,908
2,826 3,117 1,561 2,245 2,360 1,614 1,457
975 479 414
715 857 411 527

Oct-22 May-23 Oct-22 May-23 Oct-22 May-23 Oct-22 May-23

BBC iPlayer ITV Hub ITVX All 4 Channel 4 My5

Source: Ampere Analysis. ITVX catalogue hours are free-to-view only.

Another BVoD service rebrand came from Channel 4 in May 2023. As part of its Future4 strategy, the
broadcaster unified its linear and digital brands, seeking to limit the distinction between them, and
rebranded its BVoD service as Channel 4, dropping the All 4 brand. The key goals of Future4 are to
accelerate digital growth, develop new revenue streams and reach younger audiences on the
platforms they use. As part of this strategy, Channel 4 is experimenting with online-only original
programming, including the current affairs series Untold, which features documentaries reflecting
the lives of younger people. While some episodes air on linear TV, most are made available only for
streaming.

One of the BBC’s current strategic aims for BBC iPlayer is to increase the volume of archive content
available on the service. The broadcaster sought approval for this in 2022, with Ofcom allowing the
BBC to proceed with its plans, following a consultation which concluded in November. 43

Outside their own branded streaming services, broadcasters are using social media platforms, to
varying extents, to distribute their programming and increase their reach to younger audiences.
Most are being relatively cautious in this, limiting the amount of longer-form entertainment and
scripted content they make available on YouTube and other social video services, given its limited
monetisation potential, and their concern that viewers will not attribute content they see to the
broadcaster it came from or follow it back to BVoD services. Channel 4 has used social platforms in
various ways, making 1,000 hours of full-length shows available on YouTube in 2022, and identifying
branded (advertiser-funded) content as a key opportunity, delivered via the 4Studio which it
established in 2020. In October 2022, Channel 4 launched the digital-first brand Channel 4.0, through
which it targets 13-24-year-olds on social platforms with videos from young content creators.

43 The BBC’s proposal to publish – subject to financial and operational constraints – any title on BBC iPlayer in
line with its agreements with producers and underlying rightsholders, was first published as part of a public
interest test (PIT) in June 2022. In October 2022, the BBC Board decided that the proposals were not material
and would, in any event, satisfy the PIT. In November 2022, following consultation, Ofcom concluded the
proposal was not a material change, allowing the BBC to proceed with its plans.
45
Free-to-view TV streaming services, beyond those affiliated with the main
broadcast channels, are emerging in the UK
New competition in the streaming market is emerging in the form of advertising-supported video-
on-demand (AVoD) services/channels, also commonly referred to as FAST, or free advertising-
supported streaming TV. These can include on-demand libraries and/or online linear channels. Most
of these offerings are distinct from BVoD in that they are not broadcaster branded, with services
operating in the UK including Amazon’s Freevee, Paramount’s Pluto TV and Samsung TV Plus.

While these services are achieving some success in the US – a trend that has generated some hype
about their potential in other markets – they are yet to achieve significant reach in the UK: just 8% of
adults and teens surveyed in February 2023 said they had used Freevee in the past three months,
and 4% or less for other AVoD/FAST services, as shown in Figure 38 below. The UK market poses
challenges for non-broadcaster AVoD/FAST services, including strong free TV and streaming
competition from the PSBs, as well as from subscription TV/streaming services that offer access to
big-budget originals and extensive content libraries; AVoD/FAST services, in contrast, typically offer
comparably less-desirable, older, non-exclusive programming.

FAST channels (live linear streams) are still very new but are set to become more common as
broadcasters begin to embrace them as part of their BVoD propositions. As part of its ITVX launch,
ITV introduced 18 streaming-only linear channels, which are either themed (e.g. Classic Comedy) or
are dedicated to a single programme (e.g. The Chase).

Figure 38: VoD services used to watch programmes, films or other video content, by reach: 2023

SVoD Free-to-view
Netflix 65% BBC iPlayer* 66%
Amazon Prime Video 52% YouTube 56%
Disney+ 34% ITVX / STV Player 46%
Sky on Demand or Sky Go 24% All 4 41%
Virgin TV Catch-up or Virgin Media Go 11% My5 22%
NOW 11% Freeview Play 11%
Paramount+ 10% UKTV Play 10%
BVoD
Apple TV+ 9% Freevee 8%
Discovery+ 8% Facebook Watch 6% AVoD/FAST
All 4+ 8% Pluto TV 4%
Social video
BritBox 4% TED Talks 3%
ITVX Premium (formerly ITV Hub+) 4% Samsung TV Plus 3%
YouTube Premium 4%
Apple Fitness+ 2%
Hayu 2%
Lionsgate+ (formerly STARZPLAY) 2%
Crunchyroll 2%

Source: Ofcom VoD Survey 2023. Adults/teens aged 13+. Online & CATI. Services used in the past three months:
fieldwork conducted 22 February – 9 March 2023. Notes: *Payment of licence fee required to use BBC iPlayer.
Free-to-view list excludes some services with hybrid business models (e.g. mixture of ad-supported and
transactional content) where free-to-view use cannot be isolated. NOW includes NOW Entertainment, NOW
Cinema and NOW Sports.

46
Radio and audio
Industry trends: continued growth in local advertising
and sponsorships fuels commercial radio
This section provides insight and commentary on key trends across the radio and audio sectors. It
contains data on advertising, revenues and spend, and the availability of radio services, as well as
notable developments in the radio, music streaming and podcast markets.

Revenues and spend

Radio advertising continued to grow between 2021 and 2022

Commercial radio revenues grew by 3% overall between 2021 and 2022, driven by 5% growth in
local advertising and 16% in sponsorship. However, in contrast to previous years, national
advertising declined by 3%, reflecting the ending of pandemic-related public sector national
advertising campaigns. The decline may also be due to some advertisers reviewing and shifting some
expenditure to TV in 2022, having shifted some budget towards radio during the pandemic. 44 Other
relevant turnover (such as income from on-air competitions) grew by 3%.

Figure 39: Commercial radio revenues: 2016-2022

700 £656m
£638m
£613m
600 £581m £89m Other relevant turnover
£555m £86m
£537m £42m £81m £530m
£28m
£26m Commercial sponsorship
500 £80m £110m £128m
£100m £108m £114m
£102m
Revenue (£m)

Local commercial
400 £87m £97m £102m
£140m £133m £118m
£135m National commercial
£79m
300

200
£346m £337m
£275m £286m £298m £300m £284m
100

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: Broadcaster returns.

In 2022 there was a return to a radio advertising mix more like the pre-pandemic situation, with the
share of expenditure from government, social and political organisations falling to 8% from 12% in
2021. In contrast, travel and transport’s share of expenditure grew from 5% to 8%, reflecting the
reopening of travel following lockdowns and restrictions in 2020 and 2021.

44 We also understand this may have been affected by relative price changes in TV and radio advertising
(including price increases for some radio advertising) resulting in some budgets being reallocated to TV. Data
from ECI Media Management indicates a significant decline in TV price inflation between 2021 and 2022,
although still ahead of other media. See ECI Media Management Inflation Report Q1 2023.
47
Historically among radio’s key advertisers, the motor industry’s share of expenditure fell by three
percentage points to 8% in 2022, which may reflect global supply chain issues in the automotive
sector and the economic outlook. 45

Figure 40: Share of radio advertising expenditure, by category: 2019-2022

2022 15% 8% 11% 9% 8% 8% 8% 7% 6% 3% 17%

2021 14% 11% 11% 9% 5% 7% 12% 7% 5% 4% 16%

2020 14% 11% 12% 9% 4% 6% 13% 8% 5% 3% 16%

2019 14% 13% 13% 8% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 2% 17%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Entertainment Motors Finance Telecoms

Travel & transport Retail Government social and political Food
Business & Industrial Online retail Other

Source: Nielsen, Ofcom analysis.

Podcast advertising was the engine of growth for digital audio

advertising in 2022
Despite online radio and music streaming advertising expenditure remaining flat between 2021 and
2022, total digital audio advertising expenditure grew by 13% over this period due to the 41% year-
on-year growth in podcast advertising.

Figure 41: Digital audio advertising expenditure: 2019-2022

£186m

£164m

£76m
£54m
Podcast
£104m
£89m Audio streaming platforms /
£33m online radio applications
£23m

£110m £110m

£65m £70m

2019 2020 2021 2022

Source: IAB UK PwC Digital Adspend Study 2021 & IAB UK PwC Digital Adspend Study 2022.

45
According to SMMT data, the number of new cars sold in the UK in 2022 fell by 2% to 1.61 million, about
700k lower than in 2019.
48
The range of digital audio advertising opportunities has grown over time, although there is not yet a
standard industry-wide set of measurement tools. While some advertisers may choose to run the
same spot adverts on online audio platforms as they do on broadcast radio, online audio platforms
give advertisers the opportunity to target audiences more precisely, in terms of both demographics
and geography. Technology allows advertisers to create tailored copy, so people may hear an advert
which refers specifically to their area, or even to their local weather conditions. Some advertisers
and media owners are starting to develop marketing campaigns involving interactive adverts and
interactive sponsored content on smart speakers. Examples include Tesco’s Christmas party advert
and Magic’s interactive smart speaker quiz, sponsored by holiday firm On the Beach, which ran in
February and March 2023.
For podcasts, new forms of advert can include the dynamic insertion of host-read adverts, in
addition to pre-, post- and mid-roll adverts. A particular advantage of dynamic insertion of host-read
adverts is that it allows adverts to be updated and changed over time, important for podcasts that
may be discovered and listened to a significant time after their release. This greater use of dynamic
advertising insertion, and the development of automated buying platforms, is helping the sector
meet challenges around scale, although concerns about brand safety and measurement remain,
relating to specific differences between podcasts, (which are not subject to Ofcom regulation and do
not have an industry-wide measurement system), and broadcast radio (which is regulated by Ofcom
and measured by RAJAR).

UK consumers continue to increase their spend on recorded

music
UK consumers spent almost £2bn on recorded music in 2022, with subscriptions to online music
services such as Spotify and Apple Music accounting for 83% of the total. Expenditure on physical
formats fell by 4% year on year as the continued growth in vinyl (11%) was insufficient to offset the
17% decline in the CD market. The volume of cassettes continued to increase and grew by 5% to a
total of 195,000 units (accounting for 1.1% of total physical album sales).

Figure 42: Consumer expenditure on recorded music: 2020-2022

£1,968m
£1,914m
£46m
£55m
£1,742m
£285m
£72m £297m

£279m

Downloads

Physical formats

Subscription
£1,562m £1,638m
£1,391m

2020 2021 2022

Source: Official Charts Company and ERA estimates, BPI ‘All About The Music 2023’.

49
Availability and distribution of radio services

AM switch-offs continue as more services launch on DAB

The availability of AM medium wave (MW) radio continues to decrease as broadcasters switch off
ageing and power-hungry transmission equipment, given declining audiences and the availability of
services on other platforms which are more cost and energy-efficient and which offer better sound
quality.
Both the UK’s commercial national AM services have either reduced or ceased their analogue
services. Absolute Radio closed down its UK-wide AM MW service over several days in January 2023
– following the revocation of its national analogue licence, Bauer was required to pay a financial
penalty of £25,000 for ceasing to provide the licensed service. In April 2023 Ofcom approved a
request by talkSPORT Limited to close four of its 22 AM transmitters and hence reduce its AM
coverage from 93% to 89.9%. talkSPORT has also indicated that it intends to reduce coverage further
in future – it will be required to obtain permission from Ofcom before doing this. Local AM services
have also continued to decline in number, with Bauer closing Greatest Hits Radio on AM MW in
Staffordshire and Cheshire, Bradford and Huddersfield, and Teesside. Global reduced its AM Gold
broadcasts to London and Manchester only, from the end of June 2023, and is also ceasing
transmission of Smooth on AM MW.
AM broadcasting on long wave (LW) frequencies (which can travel many hundreds of miles) is also
becoming increasingly uncommon. 46 The BBC plans to stop broadcasting Radio 4 on long wave and
started a campaign in May 2023 to inform listeners of the future closure, and that LW-specific
schedules would end. Two services from outside the UK which had been available to UK audiences
via LW AM have closed in the past few months: RTL ceased its LW broadcasts 47 from Luxembourg at
the start of 2023 and RTÉ ended its RTÉ Radio 1 broadcasts on 252KHz in April.

Figure 43: Analogue AM MW and FM radio services as of March 2023

AM MW FM Total

Local commercial 36 236 272

UK-wide commercial 1 1 2
BBC UK-wide networks 4 1 5
BBC nations’/local 9 46 46
Community 24 293 317
Source: BBC, Ofcom.

In contrast, the total number of DAB services across national and local DAB has increased, with the
number of national services increasing by four year on year to a total of 57 across the BBC and
commercial national multiplexes. The total number of services available on local multiplexes
increased by 48 to 654. In some cases, this has been enabled by the adoption of DAB+, allowing a

46 The LW spectrum bands are only used for broadcasting in ITU Region 1, which includes Europe, Africa, parts
of the Middle East, Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia. The ability to receive AM LW broadcasts is uncommon in
many modern analogue radios, even if they can receive AM MW broadcasts.
47 These had been on 234KHz.

50
greater number of individual services to be carried on a multiplex. In July 2023, Global announced
that Classic FM would be broadcast on DAB+ from January 2024.
Some parts of the UK have additional radio services carried on small-scale DAB multiplexes. As at the
launch of the Leicester small-scale multiplex on 8 March 2023, there were 276 services licensed on
DSP licences and 62 C-DSP 48 services broadcasting on 24 multiplexes. Most services on small-scale
DAB multiplexes are broadcast in DAB+. To receive DAB+ services, people need a DAB+ compatible
receiver. We commissioned a quantitative survey to assess the penetration and usage of DAB+ in
response to a recommendation from the Government as part of its Digital Radio and Audio Review.
We plan to publish this in the Autumn.

Figure 44: Number of DAB services as of March 2023

UK Commercial – UK Commercial – Local commercial
BBC UK-wide
Digital One Sound Digital services
Number of
1 1 1 58
multiplexes
Number of
11 24 22 654
services
Source: Ofcom, BBC.

DAB coverage remained steady in 2023

Coverage of national and local DAB multiplexes was unchanged in March 2023 from the previous
year. By March 2023, small-scale DAB (SSDAB) multiplexes reached 14% of UK households – a figure
which is expected to rise as the licensing and build-out of SSDAB continues.
The fifth round of SSDAB licensing started in March 2023 when we published the latest
advertisement of licences for small-scale radio multiplex services, with a deadline of 30 June. This
round covers 32 areas within the South-East England ‘macro area’ 49 and a further three areas re-
advertised from previous rounds. This means that, to date, a total of 129 locations have been
advertised across the five rounds. Ofcom received a total of 34 applications for Round 5 in addition
to three applications for readvertised areas. Six areas in Round 5 received more than one
application.

48
Community Digital Sound Programme - these services are licenced as community radio broadcasting on DAB,
either as simulcasts of analogue community stations or digital-only community radio.
49
In a macro area, there is insufficient spectrum to licence SSDAB in each of the identified areas. This means
that applications across the macro area need to be considered together, so that decisions can be taken on the
areas in which to licence SSDAB.
51
Figure 45: DAB coverage as of March 2023

Commercial Small-
BBC
scale
Digital One Sound Digital Local DAB

Homes 97.4% 91.7% 82.6% 92.0% 13.8%

UK
Major roads 87.4% 80.2% 72.6% 76.8% NM
Homes 98.4% 94.8% 86.7% 93.4% 12.8%
England
Major roads 94.5% 93.9% 89.8% 87.4% NM
Homes 95.3% 81.7% 69.0% 85.4% 24.9%
Scotland
Major roads 69.1% 45.5% 33.6% 45.6% NM
Homes 92.2% 67.5% 56.9% 82.6% 15.5%
Wales
Major roads 78.1% 53.3% 37.7% 60.9% NM

Northern Homes 87.3% 85.4% 56.8% 87.5% 5.6%

Ireland Major roads 79.3% 86.9% 55.0% 87.8% NM
Source: Arqiva, BBC, Ofcom. Note: Coverage of SSDAB is measured on a homes basis only. ‘NM’ denotes levels
are not measured.

Market developments

Radio sector
Draft Media Bill signals changes in the regulatory landscape
The Government published a draft Media Bill in March 2023 which includes a range of provisions
concerning the regulation of radio services in the UK. In particular, the draft legislation indicates that
commercial radio will be further deregulated through the removal of formats, although it contains
provisions to ensure the availability of local news. The Bill would also increase flexibility around the
analogue licensing regime in the light of the increasing focus on digital platforms. Changes to the
licensing regime would allow radio licensees based outside the UK to hold licences to broadcast on
DAB in the UK, with the expectation that broadcasters based in Ireland would be the first to be able
to seek a UK licence.
The draft Bill also makes certain ‘radio selection services’ 50 subject to regulation for the first time,
requiring these services which fall within scope of the regulation to provide access to simulcasts of
BBC radio and UK radio stations licensed by Ofcom that are distributed online. 51 Under the draft Bill,
regulated radio selection services must make qualifying radio services available in response to

50 Defined in Section 42 of the draft Bill as “a service provided by means of the internet which enables, or
among other things enables, a user of the service to use that service— (a) to make a selection between
internet radio services provided by different persons, and (b) to cause a selected internet radio service to play,
by giving spoken commands that are recorded by equipment connected to the internet”.
51 i.e. an “internet radio service” [Section 42].

52
specific requests by consumers, must not overlay advertising, and must not charge the internet radio
services for these.
Bauer rebrands local stations to Greatest Hits
In April 2023, Bauer rebranded several of its stations as Greatest Hits Radio, in parallel with the
launch of Ken Bruce’s show on the network. Seven of Bauer’s stations in Scotland, including Clyde 2
and Forth 2, were rebranded as Greatest Hits Radio, bringing these stations in line with similar
stations in England, including CFM in Cumbria, which was also rebranded at the same time, along
with Lincs FM’s analogue service. These services will continue to include local content and
advertising.
In July 2023, Bauer announced that subject to regulatory approval, it intends to acquire Jack Media
Oxfordshire Limited’s stations in order to extend FM coverage of its services.
Global launches new digital stations
In February 2023 Global launched Radio X Classic Rock and Capital Chill – stations broadcasting on
the Sound Digital national multiplex as well as being available online via smart speakers and Global
Player. Global has also expanded its operations in Scotland, with Heart Scotland and Capital
Scotland 52 introducing new programming from its Glasgow base.
Bauer launches new Rayo app, and Nation Broadcasting goes ad-free via TuneIn
Premium
By developing Rayo (first announced in March 2023), Bauer will make its audio content available in a
single app and on a website with a consistent digital brand, akin to the approach adopted by BBC
Sounds and Global Player. Bauer has also added advertising-free Magic Radio and Greatest Hits
Radio stations to its subscription radio service. Nation Broadcasting announced in June 2023 that it
would be available via the TuneIn Premium subscription service.

Music streaming
Agreement to improve music metadata
In November 2022 the Competition and Markets Authority published its music streaming market
study. It concluded that neither record labels nor streaming services were likely to be making
significant excess profits that could be shared with creators, and that interventions outside the
scope of competition would be needed to address issues around payments to creators. The
Government initiated a programme of work to examine these issues, and as part of this, in May 2023
key organisations in the UK music industry agreed to improve their metadata. Having better
metadata should help to better identify artists and creators due who are due royalty payments.
Additional research from the programme is expected to be published later in the summer.
Music streaming services continue to adapt their offerings…
In November 2022 Amazon made changes to its Prime Music service, giving Prime subscribers access
to its full library of music (rather than a subset, as before) and access to advertising-free versions of
certain podcasts, including titles from Wondery and the New York Times. However, the changes also
mean that, apart from songs on All Access playlists, Prime subscribers not paying an additional
subscription fee can only listen to music via a shuffle mode.
In March 2023 Apple launched Apple Music Classical, a new standalone music streaming app
designed for listening to classical music, which offers users information better suited to classical

52 Owned by Communicorp UK which licenses the brand from Global.

53
music pieces, 53 as well as background content. The service is free to Apple Music subscribers but
does not support downloading of content for offline plays.
… while increasing subscriptions fees
In late July 2023, Spotify announced it would be increasing the price of its Premium subscription tiers
in 53 markets. In the UK the monthly price for each tier will increase by £1, taking the cost of an
individual Premium subscription to £10.99 and a Family plan to £17.99 a month. This announcement
follows similar price increases made by both Apple and Amazon since late 2022.
AI DJs and synthetic voices increase automation of radio and audio
content
Over the past year, several firms have been developing products and services which use artificial
intelligence (AI) to augment online audio streaming by providing automated speech content.
Examples of this include Spotify DJ (launched March 2023 in the UK and Ireland), which uses AI to
select songs for the listener and provide speech commentary in a similar manner to a DJ, and
Futuri’s RadioGPT, a system designed to allow radio stations to develop automated services, which
can add music playlists and automated speech content related to the music, as well as local content
sourced from websites. Oregon station Live 95.5 has used the system to create content for its
midday show, using a voice based on that of DJ Ashely Z, and in the UK, Switch Radio has used Open
AI’s ChatGPT to create weather bulletins.

Podcasts
Some publishers are seeking to reduce costs in their podcast business
Over the past few months, several large podcast producers in the US have rationalised their podcast
line-up and made job cuts, amid reports of cuts in production budgets. Despite the resilient
audiences, analysts have pointed to the sector’s reliance on advertising as a weakness, given the
increasingly challenging economic environment.
Spotify has made several changes to its business over the past year, following trends which saw
costs grow twice as quickly as revenues. It reduced headcount by 6% across the business in January
2023, and in June announced a further round of 200 job cuts in its podcast division as well as the
merger of Gimlet and Parcast to create a Spotify Originals studio. NPR cut its headcount by 10% in
March 2023 and cancelled four podcasts, including 8-year-old Invisibilia, to help address a $30m
budget deficit.
Broadcasters continue to develop their podcast offerings for both listeners and
advertisers
In May 2023 the New York Times launched a standalone app, providing access to subscriber-only
podcasts in addition to other NYT audio content, such as The Daily, and early access to This American
Life. In the UK, where the podcast advertising market is less developed, broadcasters have continued
to develop their offerings involving both first- and third-party podcasts. Following their departure
from the BBC, Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall’s News Agents news podcast launched as a
Global Player original in August 2022. In April 2023, talkSPORT launched a network of third-party
football podcasts alongside its existing portfolio of original podcasts, offering advertisers greater
scale.

53Track metadata fields for classical music such as title, composer, opus, performer/orchestra, conductor and
recording may differ from metadata used for pop music such as song, artist and album.
54
Audience trends: overall reach of live radio stays high
as listening continues to shift to online
This section provides data and commentary on what people are listening to, and how. It starts by
looking at listening across a range of audio types and devices, before focusing on consumer trends
relating to radio listening, music streaming, podcasts, voice assistants and in-car listening.

Audio listening

Live radio continues to be the most popular form of audio, but

under-35s are more likely to stream music than tune into radio
After listening to the radio on a radio set, the next most popular audio activities are music streaming
(47%) – which has grown steadily in reach (16 percentage points) over the past five years but
recently levelled off – followed by listening to personal digital music (25%). The proportion of adults
listening to podcasts each week has grown by seven percentage points over the past five years,
although it remains comparatively low. 54

Figure 46: Weekly use of different audio types, GB adults 15+: 2018-2023 55
80% 76%

70%

61%
60%

50% 47%

40%

31% 32%
29%
30%
24% 25% 24% 23%
20% 18% 18%
14%
10% 11%
10% 8% 8%
5%

0%
Live radio on a Online radio On-demand radio Streamed music Personal digital Podcasts Personal music on Music video sites / Audiobooks
radio set music CD etc. channels

2018 2019 2020 (pre-lockdown) 2020 (lockdown) 2021 wave 1 2021 wave 2 2022 wave 1 2022 wave 2 2023 wave 1

Source: IPA TouchPoints.

Online audio formats continue to be more popular among younger listeners, with 75% of 15-34-
year-olds listening to streamed music each week. Podcasts also had a higher reach among under-35s
compared to the overall population (26% vs 18%). Despite growth in vinyl and cassette sales, as

54 This figure for podcasts weekly reach (18%) is slightly lower than RAJAR’s figure (19.6%) which we typically
use, however, we include it in this chart as it allows us to compare a range of different audio types and over
time.
55 The deduplicated figure from IPA TouchPoints for weekly reach of all live radio on any device and platform is

slightly lower than the RAJAR equivalent. We include the granular splits in this chart (live radio on a radio set,
online radio and on-demand radio) to show the changes compared to other audio types over time, but we
defer to RAJAR for weekly reach of all live radio (88% of adults aged 15+) as it is the industry standard for
measuring radio listening.
55
outlined above, the reach of music on physical formats has halved for this age group over the past
five years (down 11 percentage points); one in ten adults aged 15-34 now listen this way each week.

Figure 47: Weekly use of different audio types, GB adults 15-34: 2018-2023
80%
75%

70%

59% 59%
60%

50%
41% 42%
40%
40% 38%

29%
30%
25%
21%
20% 18% 17% 18%

10% 9%
10% 8% 7% 6%

0%
Live radio on a Online radio On-demand radio Streamed music Personal digital Podcasts Personal music on Music video sites / Audiobooks
radio set music CD etc channels

2018 2019 2020 (pre-lockdown) 2020 (lockdown) 2021 wave 1 2021 wave 2 2022 wave 1 2022 wave 2 2023 wave 1

Source: IPA TouchPoints.

Music streaming accounts for half of young people’s total audio

listening, but a fifth for adults overall
Sixty-four per cent of adults’ audio listening is to radio content, either live radio or on-demand,
including radio podcasts: triple the proportion of time spent listening to streamed music (21%). For
young people aged 15-34, however, the image is practically inverted: half their audio diet is
streamed music, while radio content accounts for 30% of total listening. While this pattern has
remained consistent over time, Figure 48 shows the gradual shift to online listening for both age
groups in the past five years. The share of live online radio and streamed music has increased
significantly for all adults (online live radio doubling from 4% to 9% and streamed music from 12% to
21%), while live radio listening on radio sets decreased from just over two-thirds (67%) to just over
half (52%) of time spent listening to audio each week.

56
Figure 48: Share of time spent each week on any audio: adults 15+ vs 15-34s
Any radio content (inc. radio podcasts) = 64%

1%

15+ 52% 9% 1% 21% 3% 3% 5% 2% 3%

2023 (wave 1)

15-34 24% 4% 1% 50% 5% 4% 8% 1%3%

1%
Any radio content (inc. radio podcasts) = 30%
Any radio content = 72%
1%
2018

15+ 67% 4% 1% 12% 3% 6% 4% 3%

15-34 25% 3%1% 45% 9% 9% 5% 3%

Any radio content = 28%

Live radio on a radio set Online live radio Online catch-up radio Radio podcasts Streamed music
Music video sites/channels Personal digital music Other podcasts Personal music on CD etc Audiobooks

Source: IPA TouchPoints.

Spotify continues to be the most popular audio streaming

service for listening to online music and podcasts
Looking more closely at what platforms people are using, Spotify continues to be the top platform
for online music, increasing its weekly reach from 48% to 59% of music streamers in the past year.
YouTube and Amazon also increased their reach to four in ten (41%) and a third (34%) of music
streamers respectively. Spotify, YouTube and BBC Sounds are the most popular services for
podcasts, all reaching just over two-thirds of these listeners each week. The biggest year-on-year
growth was for BBC Sounds, which went from reaching just over a fifth of online radio users in 2022
(21%) to more than a third (35%) in 2023. 56
Interestingly, Spotify also makes an appearance in the list of online radio services, as respondents in
our research considered it a provider of radio-like content via its ‘Radio’ function which
automatically creates a custom playlist curated around any song, album, playlist or artist the user
selects. 57 The term ‘radio’ has always been used to refer to both the device – the radio set – and the
medium itself, but this particular use of radio to mean curated playlists hints at a bigger question:
what does ‘radio’ mean to audiences today? As noted above, AI-generated content and synthetic
voices are becoming increasingly sophisticated and even used to augment what we may think of as
traditional broadcast radio. How do the characteristics of this content compare to other audio
formats like live radio, streamed music and podcasts? The sections below focus on each of these
formats in turn and the changes in audience listening habits over time.

56
Ofcom Audio Survey.
57
More information on how this works is available here: Spotify FAQS, How does Spotify Radio work, accessed
12 July 2023.
57
Figure 49: Most-used services by weekly users of different online audio: March 2022 and March
2023
Radio online Online Music (excluding Radio) Podcasts Audiobooks Music videos as background listening

BBC Sounds 34% 48% 25% 30% 53%

NET: Spotify NET: Spotify Audible YouTube
(website or app) 45% 59% 35% 43% 76%

NET: Global 27%

37% 24% 20% 23%
28% YouTube YouTube YouTube Amazon Music
41% 35% 24% 21%

NET: Amazon 25%

27% 28% BBC Sounds 21% BBC Sounds 18%
NET: Amazon BBC Sounds on 9%
34% (website or app) 35% (website or app) 18% YouTube 10%
YouTube 23%
27%
BBC Sounds 13% 14% 13% 7%
Apple Podcasts Amazon Kindle Apple Music
(website or app) 16% 20% 14% 10%
NET: Spotify 23%
28%
12% 8% 13%
Apple Music Google Podcasts Apple Books 3%
16% 14% 7% 15% Soundcloud
NET:Bauer 4%
21%

2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023

Source: Ofcom Audio Survey 2022 and 2023. ‘NET: Global’ includes Global Player and website or app for Heart,
Capital, Classic FM, Smooth, Radio X radio stations. ‘NET: Bauer’ includes Planetradio.co.uk (for radio stations
including Magic, Kiss, Greatest Hits, Hits, Absolute, Scala, Planet Rock) and specific apps for Magic, Kiss,
Greatest Hits, Hits, Absolute, Scala and Planet Rock.

Live radio listening

Commercial radio consolidates its position as market leader

Live radio continues to reach the majority of adults across the UK, with 88% of people tuning in for
an average of 20 hours each week across digital, analogue and online platforms. This listening has
previously been split more or less equally between BBC and commercial radio stations, but over the
past year commercial radio consolidated its position as market leader to take a 51.4% share in Q1
2023 – five percentage points clear of the BBC. 58 Having fared better with younger audiences in the
past, this success is due in part to commercial radio successfully attracting older audiences with UK-
wide brands, including brand extensions, such as Smooth and Magic. Local commercial radio figures
were boosted in early 2023 by Greatest Hits Network, which rebranded seven stations in Scotland
and marketed itself as the new ‘Home of Ken Bruce’, in advance of his move to the station away
from BBC Radio 2.
The success of Greatest Hits Network’s strategy is evident in its weekly reach, which was up nearly
two percentage points during the quarter (7.8% to 9.5%). With more people tuning in, its share of
listening also grew, albeit more modestly, from 3.2% to 3.7%. 59 Nevertheless, this increase meant
that it overtook Classic FM and Smooth Radio to become the sixth most popular UK-wide station /
network 60 in Q1 2023. LBC 61 also appeared in the top ten, with the same market share as Capital,
although with less than half the number of listeners. This hints at the different listening habits of
audiences to different stations, with fewer people tuning in to LBC’s radio programmes but listening

58
RAJAR Q1 2023.
59
RAJAR Q1 2023.
60
The table shows stations that are available across the UK. These can be stations that either have the same
output regardless of where in the UK they are listened to (e.g. BBC Radio 2, or Heart UK on national DAB), or
they can be local radio services that have some tailored local content (notably local news) alongside output
that is mostly ‘simulcast’ or ‘networked’ across a number of local stations which share the same branding.
61
LBC, along with Capital, was the first licenced commercial radio stations to broadcast, fifty years ago this
October.
58
for longer each week. The top five UK-wide stations remain unchanged since Q4 2022, with BBC
Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4 alone accounting for over a quarter of weekly radio listening.

Figure 50: Top ten UK-wide stations/networks, ranked by market share: Q1 2023
Rank National station/ network Ranking change Weekly reach Market Owner
from previous of adults 15+ share
quarter
1 BBC Radio 2 - 25.8% 15.2% BBC
2 BBC Radio 4 - 16.8% 11.2% BBC
3 Heart Network (UK) - 15.9% 5.6% Global
4 Hits Radio Network 62 - 12.1% 5.0% Bauer
5 BBC Radio 1 - 13.5% 4.9% BBC
6 Greatest Hits Network +3 9.5% 3.7% Bauer
7 Classic FM -1 8.1% 3.6% Global
8 Smooth Radio Network (UK) -1 9.4% 3.4% Global
9 BBC Radio 5 live -1 9.1% 3.0% BBC
10 LBC (UK) +1 4.9% 2.9% Global
=10 Capital Network (UK) - 11% 2.9% Global
Source: RAJAR Q1 2023. TSA: All Radio. Weight: Automatic (each station weighted by its own weight).

BBC Radio 2 remains the most popular station in most places,

although there are some notable exceptions at a local level
Drilling down to a local level shows some differences in radio listening across the different parts of
the UK. Figure 51 shows the top three stations based on market share in each of the BBC local
areas. 63 BBC Radio 2 was the number one station in most markets, and where it wasn’t, it was
usually number two. However, in Guernsey and Northern Ireland it was fourth, behind independent
local, BBC local and Bauer local stations (and in the case of Guernsey, BBC Radio 1).
BBC nations’/local stations (shown in green) featured in the top three positions in 11 of the 42
markets shown, and held the number-one spots in Northern Ireland and Cornwall. Bauer’s Hits Radio
Network, which mainly comprises local stations which have retained their heritage names, such as
Metro Radio in the BBC Radio Newcastle area, featured in the top three in many areas across the
north of England, as well as in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Global’s Heart Network (shown in
pink) appeared in the top three stations for most areas, but particularly in the south of the UK, while
the Smooth Radio Network performed better in the north (although this geographical split, to some
extent, reflects the FM availability of these brands). Tindle Radio, one of the smaller commercial

62 Note that nearly all the services comprising Bauer’s ‘Hits Radio Network’ broadcast under local branding (e.g.
Hallam FM, Metro Radio, Clyde 1, Radio City), although most of the programming is shared across the network
on these services.
63 We have used BBC nations/local radio total survey areas (TSAs) for this analysis as they are non-overlapping

areas. A TSA is the defined area RAJAR uses to measure listening and ensures robust sample sizes in those
areas. Market share for a particular station can vary if measured within different TSAs.
59
groups, continues to dominate listening in the Channel Islands, mainly because those stations were
the only commercial stations to broadcast there until the arrival of the DAB+ multiplex in August
2021. Data from RAJAR indicates that although the way in which people in the Channel Islands listen
to commercial radio has shifted, with more using DAB instead of analogue, this has had no impact on
the numbers of people listening to commercial radio overall or its market share.

60
Figure 51: Top three stations based on market share in each BBC nations/local radio area: Q1 2023
Total survey area (TSA) Station ranked 1st Station ranked 2nd Station ranked 3rd
UK BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 1
BBC Essex BBC Radio 2 Heart BBC Radio 4
BBC Hereford & Worcester BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio Berkshire BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Bristol BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 2 Heart
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Cornwall BBC Radio Cornwall BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Cumbria BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio Cumbria
BBC Radio Derby BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio Derby BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Devon BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Gloucestershire BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Guernsey Island FM 104.7 BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio Guernsey
BBC Radio Humberside BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio Humberside
BBC Radio Jersey Channel 103 FM BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio 2 Heart BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Lancashire BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio Lancashire
BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio 2 Capital BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 2 Capital
BBC Radio Lincolnshire BBC Radio 2 Lincs FM* BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio London BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 2 LBC London
BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio 2 Smooth Radio BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio Merseyside Smooth Radio
BBC Radio Newcastle BBC Radio 2 Smooth Radio Metro Radio
BBC Radio Norfolk BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Northampton BBC Radio 2 Heart BBC Radio Northampton
BBC Radio Nottingham BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Smooth Radio
BBC Radio Oxford BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio 2 Clyde 1 BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio 2 Hallam FM BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio Shropshire BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio Shropshire
BBC Somerset BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Stoke BBC Radio 2 Signal One BBC Radio Stoke
BBC Radio Suffolk BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Sussex & BBC Surrey BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 2 Heart
BBC Radio Tees BBC Radio 2 Smooth Radio Capital
BBC Three Counties Radio BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster Cool FM Downtown Radio
BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio Wiltshire & Swindon BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 1
BBC WM 95.6 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 Heart
BBC Radio York BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 1

Key BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 1 BBC Local Global Bauer Tindle

61
Source: RAJAR Q1 2023, based on market share in the BBC nations’/local total survey areas; six-month
weighting. *Lincs FM has since rebranded to Greatest Hits Radio on FM, but is still available as Lincs FM on
DAB, online and smart speakers.

The shift to online listening continues, particularly for

commercial radio stations
The way in which people are listening continues to shift towards online, with smart speakers and
internet listening now accounting for a quarter (24.5%) of all time spent listening to live radio. 64
AM/FM’s share has decreased from just under half (49.1%) to less than a third (32.4%) in the last five
years, while DAB’s share has only decreased by three percentage points in the same period.
The relative resilience of DAB may be due to the stability of DAB penetration, both at home and on
the road. The proportion of households with DAB access was unchanged in 2023: 30% of households
had a DAB set in the home and 45% of households with cars had one in a car, taking total
penetration of any DAB to 57% of households. 65
Ofcom will soon be publishing findings from quantitative research commissioned to assess the
penetration and use of DAB+ radio in home and in cars. DAB+ is the latest technology for digital
audio broadcasting and is more efficient than standard DAB.

Figure 52: Share of listening, by platform: 2018-2023

100%
9.3% 9.3% 9.6% 9.4% 11.0% 12.5% 13.0% 12.5% 9.9% 10.8% 13.4%
14.0% 16.9% 13.6% 14.0%
90% 18.1%
4.8% 4.6% 4.7% 5.0% 5.0% 4.9% 4.2% 5.0% 4.4% 12.4% 11.5%
80% 4.7% 5.0% 10.2% 10.5% 10.5%
4.5% 4.5% 3.6% 3.7% 3.4%
70%
36.8% 36.3% 38.1% 38.3%
40.4% 38.6% 39.7% 41.0%
60% 40.2%
43.0% 42.5%
41.1% 40.8% 38.9% 38.8% 39.8%
50%

40%

30%
49.1% 49.8% 47.6% 47.4%
20% 43.6% 44.0% 43.2% 41.5% 41.4%
34.2% 35.5% 32.1% 32.4% 34.0% 33.4% 32.4%
10%

0%
Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023

AM/FM DAB DTV Other online Smart speaker Any internet

Source: RAJAR. Dotted line indicates suspension of fieldwork from the end of Q1 2020 until Q3 2021 due to the
Covid-19 lockdowns. This led to subsequent changes in methodology, so comparison with previous quarters
should be made with caution.

Listening via the internet and smart speakers using primarily the BBC’s umbrella online platform,
BBC Sounds, accounts for just under a fifth (19.7%) of the BBC’s total radio listening. In contrast,
almost two-fifths (37.8%) of time spent listening to News Broadcasting (formerly Wireless, and
including talkSPORT, Times Radio and Virgin Radio) is via online platforms, including station-branded
apps.

64
RAJAR Q1 2023.
65
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023.
62
Figure 53: Share of listening, by platform of each main broadcaster group: Q1 2023
100% 3.4% 3.5% 3.7% 2.1%
4.3%
90% 14.0% 10.5%
15.9% 18.3% 19.0%
80% 9.2%
10.5%
10.7%
70% 10.2%
18.8%
60%
38.7%
50% 39.8% 37.0%
44.8%
40%
46.4%
30%

20% 38.2%
32.4% 32.6%
10% 22.3%
13.7%
0%
All radio BBC Global Bauer News Broadcasting
Analogue DAB Online (ex smart speakers) Smart speakers DTV

Source: RAJAR Q1 2023. Note: News Broadcasting rebranded from Wireless in 2023.

Of course, listeners’ choice of content and platform is largely dependent on where they are at the
time. Listeners have the widest range of options while at home, where 30.9% of listening is online,
with around two-thirds of this through a smart speaker. DAB radio continues to account for just over
half of in-car listening (50.6%) compared to AM/FM’s 43% and 6% via the internet, 66 although this
varies by nation, as illustrated in Figure 54 below. Listeners in Northern Ireland are more likely than
the rest of the UK to listen to AM/FM in the car, partly due to lower DAB coverage levels and the
popularity of local radio. More information on radio listening in the nations is available in our
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales reports and more data on in-car radio listening, including
DAB’s share over time, can be found later in this section.

66 RAJAR Q1 2023.
63
Figure 54: Platform share of listening, at home and in the car, by nation: Q1 2023

AM/FM DAB Online (ex smart speakers) Smart speakers DTV

Platform share of listening, at home

4.9% 4.2% 4.6% 5.5%
20.2% 21.4% 18.0% 20.9%
10.7% 9.2% 11.5% 10.0%

25.8% 33.3%
35.2% 31.8%

39.5% 32.6%
29.0% 31.9%

UK Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Platform share of listening, in the car

6.1% 4.0% 5.7% 5.3%

44.5% 45.8%
50.6% 49.0%

51.4% 45.2% 48.7%

43.1%

UK Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Source: RAJAR Q1 2023. TSA: All radio (UK), BBC Radio Ulster (Northern Ireland), BBC Radio Scotland (Scotland),
BBC Radio Wales (Wales).

People listen to about three radio stations a week, although

DAB listeners and 35-44-year-olds tune in to more
The average number of stations listened to each week has remained relatively constant over time, at
an average of three; this includes listening in any location and on any platform. Looking at the
platforms more closely, people who listen on DAB tune in to more stations than those who listen on
other platforms. Those aged 35-44 are the most promiscuous age group, listening to 3.3 stations
each week on average, while both 15-24-year-olds and those aged 65+ listen to an average of 2.7,
less than all other age groups. There are also differences if we look through the lens of which
stations people listen to. For example, BBC Radio 2 listeners tune in to an average of 3.6 stations
each week while those who listen to Heart 90s tune in to an average of 6.1 stations. 67

Music streaming

Almost half of all adults use music streaming services each

week, although reach has plateaued in the last two years
After slow and steady growth over the past five years, the weekly reach of music streaming services
appears to have stabilised at 47%. Reach among younger adults was still much higher than the

67 RAJAR Q1 2023.
64
average, with three-quarters of 15-34-year-olds using music streaming services at least once a week
in the first quarter of 2023, although this was marginally lower than a year ago (by two percentage
points). Conversely, reach among over-54s increased slightly to just over a fifth (22%) in 2023,
perhaps an indication of the potential for future growth in this age group.

Figure 55: Weekly reach of streamed music, by age: 2018-2023

80% 77%
75%
73% 72% 73% 73%
70%

59%
60%
53% 53% 53%
50% 49%
50% 48% 47% 47%
45% 45% 44%
42%
40%
31% 31%
30%
24%
22%
19% 18% 19%
20% 16%
9%
10%

0%
15+ 15-34 35-54 55+

2018 2020 (pre-lockdown) 2020 (lockdown) 2021 wave 1 2021 wave 2 2022 wave 1 2023 wave 1

Source: IPA TouchPoints.

Spotify accounted for the majority of time spent streaming

music in Q1 2023, with most of this through its paid-for service
As in 2022, most of the time spent streaming music in the first quarter of 2023 was through Spotify.
Together, the free and paid-for (Premium) subscription tiers accounted for more than two-thirds of
adults’ time spent streaming music (71%). This was higher for those aged 15-34, at 75%, and even
higher for 15-24s at 79%. Younger adults aged 15-24 were more likely to use Spotify Premium, but
less likely to use other paid-for services, including Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music. This may
be connected to the demographics of Amazon Prime’s overall subscriber base, and the fact that
Prime Music is ancillary to Prime membership, which subscribers may sign up to for reasons besides
music (such as free shipping of purchases on Amazon, or Amazon Prime Video).

Figure 56: Share of time spent music streaming by platform, GB adults 15+ vs 15-34s: 2023

Adults 15+ 10% 61% 8% 6% 6% 4% 1% 4%

Adults 15-34 9% 66% 8% 4% 6% 4% 1%3%

Spotify Free Spotify Premium Apple Music Amazon Prime Music

Amazon Music Unlimited YouTube Music (App) BBC Sounds Other music streaming service

Source: IPA TouchPoints 2023 wave 1.

65
Podcasts

One in five adults listen to podcasts each week

About 11 million adults (19.6%) listen to podcasts each week. This increase has largely been driven
by listeners aged 25-44, while younger adults aged 15-24 appear to be turning away from them. The
pattern across the UK varies, with listening skewed towards people in the South of England: almost
one in four adults in the South and in London listen to podcasts each week, dropping to 16% in the
West Midlands. 68

Figure 57: Weekly reach of podcasts, by age: 2018-2023

30%

26.5%
26.2%
25%

21.8%
20.8%
20% 19.6%
18.7%
16.9%
15% 15.4%
13.3%
10.8%
10% 10.2% 9.8%

7.2%
5%
3.4%

0%
Q1 2018 Q1 2019 Q1 2020 Q1 2022 Q1 2023

Adults 15+ 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Source: RAJAR. Dotted line indicates suspension of fieldwork from the end of Q1 2020 until Q3 2021 due to the
Covid-19 lockdowns. This led to subsequent changes in methodology, so comparison with previous quarters
should be made with caution.

Most podcast listeners listen to five or fewer podcasts per week

Of those who listen to podcasts regularly, just under a quarter (24%) listen to six or more podcasts
each week, with the majority (68%) listening to five or less. About half of regular podcast listeners
said they subscribed to between one and five podcasts, while one in six regular listeners (17%)
weren’t sure how many podcasts they subscribed to. Just over one in ten listeners (11%) subscribed
to 11 or more, but only 8% listen to this many podcasts every week.

68 RAJAR Q1 2023.
66
Figure 58: Podcast series subscribed to, and individual podcasts listened to weekly: 2023

41%

27%
24% 24%

16% 17%
14%

7% 6% 8%
4%
2%

1-2 3-5 6-10 11-20 21+ Don't know

Series subscribed Podcasts listened

Source: Ofcom Podcast Survey 2023. Base: All regular podcast listeners, 1006 (2023), 1003 (2022). Question 9:
On average, how many individual podcasts do you listen to in a week? Question 10: How many podcast series
are you subscribed to?

24 million people listen to speech audio each week, but only a

fifth of them listen to speech radio and podcasts
Despite the increase in the number of stations providing exclusively speech content, such as Times
Radio and GB News Radio, 69 the audience for speech radio has remained constant, reaching about a
third (32.6%) of UK adults each week. Looking at the crossover, 43% of adults (24 million) listen each
week to speech radio or podcasts. The age differences of people who listen to these various types of
speech-led audio are shown in Figure 59. Those who listen to speech radio and not podcasts are
more likely to be aged over 54, while about three-quarters of people who listen to podcasts and not
speech radio are likely to be under 45.

Figure 59: Audience profiles: speech radio listeners vs podcast listeners: Q1 2023
Proportion of speech/podcast listeners who listen to both audio Age profile of speech/podcast listeners
types or exclusively to one
4.4%
6.5% 65+
19.3%
21.2% Speech radio AND 36.6% 13.2%
podcast 55-64
21.6%
23.0%
24.1%
Total speech radio OR 45-54
podcast listeners Podcast AND NOT 20.5%
speech radio 19.5%
= 24.1m (43%)
27.4% 35-44
16.1%
18.7%
54.7% Speech radio AND NOT 25-34
podcast 11.7%
13.7% 25.5%
8.9%
7.3% 15-24
6.1%
Speech radio AND Speech radio AND NOT Podcast AND NOT
podcast podcast speech radio

Source: RAJAR Q1 2023. Six-month weight.

69
This does not include stations which provide some speech-only programmes, such as some BBC nations/local
stations.
67
People consume different types of speech content for different reasons, so there may be limited
substitutability between different types of speech-based content. For example, among those who
listen to a speech-based radio station at least monthly, 50% cited ‘catching up on news’ as a reason
to listen to such a station, versus 18% of monthly podcast listeners who said they listened to
podcasts for this reason. In contrast, half of those who listen to a podcast at least monthly said they
listened to a podcast ‘to learn something new’ or ‘for entertainment’ (compared to 35% and 33%
respectively for listeners to speech-based radio stations). The most-cited reason to listen to an
audiobook was for entertainment (44% of audiobook listeners).

Figure 60: Reasons for listening to different types of speech-based content: 2023
60%

50% 50% 50%

50%
44%

39%
40%
35%
33%
30% 31%
30% 28%
24% 24% 24%
22% 22%
18% 18%17% 19%
20%
16% 15% 16% 16%
13% 14% 13%12% 12% 13% 14%
10% 11%
10% 7% 7% 8% 8% 9% 9% 8% 8% 7% 8%
6% 6%

0%
To catch-up on To learn For For background To pass the To relax For company To give me Habit For practical To make me
news something new entertainment listening time something to advice feel better
talk about
A radio station that is mainly speech-based (e.g. BBC Radio 4, LBC, talkSPORT)
A podcast
An audiobook (digital/online and physical)
Other type of audio content (e.g. Time to Walk by Apple Fitness+, guided audio meditation )

Source: Ofcom Audio Survey 2023.

Convenience is important, although most listeners also say

podcasts offer them something they can’t get on radio
Looking at what people value in podcasts, convenience is key: almost nine in ten regular listeners
(89%) said they liked being able to listen when it suited them. Listeners were also likely to agree that
podcasts offered a wide range of content (85%), including content not available on radio (79%).
Three-quarters of regular podcast listeners (77%) said they felt more informed as a result, although
only half said they trusted what they heard in podcasts. Most listeners (56%) agreed that there
should be clear warnings about possible offensive language or topics at the start of podcasts, but the
same proportion were unconcerned about the content being potentially offensive or upsetting,
either to themselves or others.

68
Figure 61: Attitudes to podcasts: 2023
Strongly agree Slightly agree Neither agree nor disagree Slightly disagree Strongly disagree

Price and advertising

I find advertising and sponsorship on podcasts less intrusive than on other media I consume 14% 31% 31% 15% 9%
I'd be happy to pay to subscribe to my favourite podcasts 13% 25% 22% 21% 19%

Trust, rules and content

I prefer UK podcasts to those from other countries 23% 29% 34% 8% 7%
There should be clear warnings about possible offensive language or topics at the start of… 21% 35% 28% 8% 8%
I trust what I hear in podcasts 11% 39% 43% 5%
There are too many adverts on the podcasts I listen to 10% 31% 29% 19% 11%
I'm worried about content in podcasts that may be offensive or upsetting to me or others 7% 16% 20% 20% 36%

Availability and choice

I like the convenience of being able to listen to podcasts when it suits me 59% 29% 10% 1%
I like the range of content available on podcasts 43% 42% 12% 2%
Podcasts offer me something I can't get on radio 42% 37% 15% 3%
There is a lot more choice in what to listen to compared to radio 41% 37% 18% 3%
I prefer to just use one place to access my podcasts 32% 38% 18% 10%
I feel more informed because of podcasts 34% 43% 18% 3%
I find it easy to find podcasts I might enjoy 30% 45% 17% 6%
Podcasts allow me to enjoy my hobbies more 21% 40% 32% 4%
I only listen to podcasts from people I've heard of (e.g. influencers, celebrities) 10% 23% 21% 21% 26%

Source: Ofcom Podcast Survey 2023.

Smart speakers and voice assistants

This section focuses on the take-up of voice assistants and the use of smart speakers, and their
importance as a way of accessing radio services. Voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant
are voice-controlled audio platforms through which people can access audio content, search for
information and control devices such as lights and heating in the home. Voice assistants can be
accessed through a range of devices, including smartphones, tablets and smart TVs, as well as smart
speakers – dedicated audio hardware (such as the Amazon Echo or Google Nest) which people can
interact with by using their voice. Most smart speakers are only compatible with a single voice
assistant platform, although some brands (such as SONOS) allow users to choose which voice
assistant they would like to use via their smart speaker device.

Four in ten households have at least one smart speaker, with

overall take-up appearing to plateau
Four in ten households (42%) had a smart speaker in Q1 2023, a three-percentage-point increase
year on year, with 45% of these having two or more. The Amazon Echo was by far the most popular
brand; just under four in five homes (79%) with smart speakers had one of these, followed by the
Google Home / Google Nest, at 15%. The most popular place to have a smart speaker is the living
room/lounge, with over half of all smart speakers located here (59%), followed by the kitchen (45%)
and bedroom (40%). 70
Most owners reported using their smart speaker for music streaming (60%) and listening to the radio
(58%), with the next popular activities being searching for information online or asking general
questions (37%), getting weather reports (36%) and as an alarm clock (35%). 71

70
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023.
71
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023.
69
Smart speakers account for a fifth of in-home radio listening,
and their share is growing
In the past year, smart speakers’ share of in-home listening has grown from 14% to 20%. This growth
has come at the expense of in-home DAB (down by four percentage points) and analogue listening
(down by one percentage point).

Figure 62: Share of radio listening in the home, by platform: 2018-2023

100%
6.2% 6.2% 4.9% 5.2% 4.9%
10.2% 10.4% 11.0% 10.7% 13.1% 15.0% 15.5% 15.8% 17.0%
90% 21.2% 20.1%
7.0% 7.0% 7.1% 7.6% 14.2% 15.5% 18.9% 19.0% 20.2%
7.6% 7.2% 6.2%
80% 7.6% 6.6%
6.6% 7.2%
12.9% 11.4% 10.0%
70% 10.4% 10.7%
39.4% 37.4% 39.1% 39.2%
60% 40.6% 38.5% 39.8% 40.1% 39.3%
50% 41.9% 41.4%
39.1% 38.0% 35.3% 34.9% 35.2%
40%

30%

43.4% 45.2% 42.8% 42.5%

20% 38.8% 39.3% 38.5% 36.5% 37.2%
30.3% 31.3% 27.6% 28.8% 30.8% 30.4% 29.0%
10%

0%
Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023
AM/FM DAB Online (ex smart speaker) Smart speaker DTV Any internet

Source: RAJAR. Dotted line indicates suspension of fieldwork during the Covid-19 lockdowns and change in
methodology. Comparison with previous quarters should be made with caution.

Many radio listeners have stopped using their radio set since
getting a smart speaker
Ofcom published the findings of its qualitative research into smart speakers in December 2022.
About half of the respondents who took part reported using their smart speaker(s) as a radio, and
had stopped using, or even got rid of, other devices such as physical radio sets since getting the
smart speaker. Some bought their smart speaker specifically as a replacement for a radio because of
the audio quality.

“We used to have two radios in the bedroom because we love this
station, LBC, and it was quite hard to tune in on the old radio, and then
the clock radio that we used to have was set to our local station here.
So now we don’t have either of those and we just have Alexa.”
(Radio focus group participant)

In-car listening

DAB now accounts for most in-car radio listening

As of Q1 2023, DAB accounted for the majority of in-car radio listening (50.6%), while listening to the
radio via the internet in the car has remained unchanged since 2021, at 6.3%. New cars registered in
the UK have had DAB fitted as standard for about the past ten years, so this is gradually starting to
filter through to mainstream.
70
Figure 63: Share of in-car radio listening, by platform: 2018-2023
100% 2.2% 2.1% 2.2%
1.3% 1.1% 1.4% 1.5% 1.6% 2.0% 6.4% 4.8% 6.7% 6.3% 6.3% 6.0% 6.3%
90%
32.1% 33.8% 35.1%
80% 36.0%
39.9% 39.9% 39.9% 42.4% 42.3%
45.8%
70% 46.6% 47.4% 49.3% 48.7% 49.7% 50.6%

60%

50%

40%
66.6% 65.1% 63.5%
30% 62.5%
58.5% 58.2% 57.8% 55.5% 55.5%
47.0% 49.4% 45.9% 44.4% 45.0% 44.2% 43.1%
20%

10%

0%
Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023
AM/FM DAB Any internet

Source: RAJAR. Dotted line indicates suspension of fieldwork and change in methodology. Comparison with
previous quarters should be made with caution. Includes vans and lorries.

Most cars have a DAB radio, and the proportion of cars with
smartphone connectivity is increasing
More than six in ten households which use cars have a car with a DAB radio in it (62%), while a third
use one which can stream music from the driver’s or a passenger’s phone to the dashboard – a
significant year-on-year increase. Thirty-two per cent of households use a car with a built-in
infotainment system, also significantly more than last year.

Figure 64: Features in cars: 2022-2023

A DAB digital radio 62%

62%

Hands-free calling 56%

48%

Built-in sat nav 42%

37%

Audio streaming from a phone via the car’s dashboard 33%

30%

Touchscreen ‘infotainment system’ 32%

29% 2023
The ability to stream other apps (e.g. navigation) 2022
25%
by connecting your phone to the dashboard 24%

Voice assistant for e.g. making calls, playing music or navigation 24%
22%

A dash cam mounted on the car windscreen 19%

15%

In-built WiFi ‘hotspot’ 14%

13%

Remote smartphone monitoring e.g enabling you to lock/unlock 13%

the car, check fuel levels etc 12%

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2022 and 2023. Base: Person has car and uses it as a driver or passenger
n=2871 (2022), n=2874 (2023). Arrows indicate statistically significant year-on-year increase at the 95%
confidence level.

71
Live radio is still the most popular form of audio in cars
Listening to live radio, either on an AM/FM or DAB radio, was the most common in-car audio
listening activity in 2023, with at least half of car users doing at least one of these activities. Over a
fifth (22%) of drivers and passengers used a streaming service on a mobile phone to listen to music
in the car (up from 17% in 2022), while 9% listened to music via an infotainment system built into
the car. Those aged under 35 were more likely than average to listen to music using a streaming
service via a mobile phone in the car, with 36% of 16-24-year-olds and 39% of 25-34-year-olds saying
they did this either as a driver or a passenger.

Figure 65: In-car audio activities: 2023

55%
50%

22% 21%

15%
13%
9% 8%

Listen to live radio Listen to live radio Listen to music Listen to music on Listen to music Listen to radio on Listen to a Listen to a
on an in-car FM or on an in-car DAB using a streaming an in-car CD or stored on a phone a mobile phone streaming service podcast via a
AM radio radio service on a tape player via an in-car mobile phone
mobile phone infotainment
system

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023. QR4. Which, if any of these ways do you listen to audio content in a
car? Base: All respondents who drive/are a passenger in a car n=2874.

72