Subscriptions to streaming services in the UK rose 47 percent to 31 million in 2020, where adults spent a daily average of 5 hours and 40 minutes consuming video, 47 minutes more per day than than in 2019, research by regulator Ofcom found. People spent 1 hour 5 minutes on average watching subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, almost twice 2019 levels.
As of September 2020, three in every five UK homes had a subscription to a streaming service, compared to half of homes a year earlier, Ofcom said in its annual study of consumer media habits. Over the full year, adults spent 1 hour 5 minutes on average consuming video from subscription services.
As of April 2021, a total of over 115,000 hours of content was available to UK consumers. Amazon Prime video’s catalogue was the largest at over 41,000 hours, followed by Netflix at around 38,000. The combined content catalogues of All 4, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and My5 totalled around 37,000 hours.
The average time spent watching traditional broadcast TV each day in 2020 was 3 hours 12 minutes, 9 minutes higher than in 2019. This increase was entirely driven by people aged 45 and over. In the 16-24 age group, people in the UK watched 1 hour and 17 minutes of broadcast content, down 4 minutes from 2019.
Ofcom said 29 of the 30 most-watched titles on subscription services in the first quarter of 2021 were on Netflix, of which four were produced in the UK.
