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

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.

More World

world

Tom Jones7/10/26

The most watched soccer match in US history got less than a third of the views the Super Bowl did

Between a top-spot finish in the group stage, a sweeping performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, and the president’s controversial intervention, Monday evening’s USMNT game against Belgium had, to put it lightly, shaped up into a box-office clash.

And though the US players’ performance on the pitch might not have lived up to the high drama off it, American soccer fans certainly showed up. According to early estimates, the 4-1 defeat against Belgium was the most watched soccer telecast in US history, hauling some 40 million viewers on average across the coverage on Fox and Telemundo.

That may be a record tally in the US for the sport that much of the world calls some variant of “football” — besting the 36.2 million who tuned in to watch the team’s previous knock-out match — but it’s still peanuts in comparison to the sport that shares the same name in the States.

World cup viewers chart — Sherwood News

burning question

Over 50% of Americans say climate change is a serious threat; only 10% think their compatriots feel the same

That perception gap on the issue is among the highest in the world, per a new Gallup poll.

Youth Climate Strikes Break Out Across The U.S.

Reddit alien stock exchange

Reddit’s advertising business is getting bigger. It’s already booming.

The platform will plow more money into its ad offerings as it cements itself as a “trove of human intelligence.”

Tom Jones6/22/26

45% of Americans say they’re not taking a summer vacation this year, mostly due to costs

Flight comparison site Skyscanner is recommending some cheaper alternatives closer to home.

Bored annoyed man looking funny and angry during his summer staycations

Despite slight declines, Japanese tourism figures are still hovering around record highs

Tourism: Still big in Japan.

Aerial view of Tokyo cityscape with Fuji mountain in Japan.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.

©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC