TV isn't dead: Far from it, in fact

8/5/21 8:00PM

The average Brit spent 5 hours and 40 minutes a day watching content last year on a screen, according to the latest Media Nations report from regulatory authority Ofcom. That's an extra 47 minutes of watching relative to the year before, which is probably not all that surprising. What is surprising is that TV is still the favorite medium of choice for Brits to get their content fix — and it's not even close.

‍Reports of the death of TV...

‍May have been exaggerated. Live broadcast TV was watched for 2 hrs and 42 minutes per day on average in the UK last year, which was more than double the 65 minutes the average Brit spent watching streaming services. That surprised us, but the comparison gets even more one-sided when you add in the 33 minutes of recorded broadcast TV, which would bring the total for broadcast TV to over 3 hours a day.

In fairness, if we isolated just the younger demographic this chart would look very different. For the group aged 16-34 streaming accounted for about 90 minutes a day, with another 72 minutes spent watching YouTube (not on a TV), which compared to just 65 minutes of live TV broadcast a day. TV's far from dead, but it won't be on top forever.

Tom Jones1h

The UAE’s OPEC exit will hit the group in the barrels

After just shy of 60 years in OPEC, its membership even predating its status as a nation-state, the United Arab Emirates yesterday announced its shocking departure from the oil production group, effective May 1, as the knock-on effects of the Iran war continue to play out across the Middle East and the energy landscape.

For context, the UAE produces the third-highest amount of oil in the group, per April data and OPEC’s latest set of annual statistics.

According to the cartel’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin, the OPEC group was collectively exporting some 19 million barrels of crude oil a day last year, with the United Arab Emirates accounting for some 14% of that daily output.

UAExit means UAExit

The nation, whose energy minister told Reuters yesterday that the decision was taken “after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production” and wasn’t made following discussions with any other country, made up a healthy share of the group’s total confirmed crude oil reserves, as well.

Of the 12 nations in the core group, which was founded by just five oil superpowers back in September 1960, only two (Iraq and Saudi Arabia) exported more barrels of crude oil daily, pumping out 3.36 million and 6.05 million barrels, respectively, each day to nations around the world.

For its part, the UAE said it will “continue its responsible role by gradually and thoughtfully increasing production, in line with demand and market conditions,” per the official state news agency. Clearly, the nation now wants a little more control of just how much oil it can pump around the world, with the UAE having to eat a large proportion of lost revenues due to its healthy abundance and OPEC restrictions.