UK adults spend 64 percent of their media consumption time with commercial media, according to the IPA’s latest Making Sense: The Commercial Media Landscape report. Time spent with commercial media has risen by four percent since the 2020 lockdown, suggesting the “subscription-based services which were formerly seen as taking commercial media share” are not eroding that commercial proposition to the extent previously anticipated.
Based on IPA TouchPoints 2024 data, the research analyses the time spent, share of time and weekly reach of commercial channels across four key audiences: all adults, 16–34, 35-54 and 55+. The study found that the younger age group actually spends more time with commercial media than average, with a 67 percent commercial share – though this has fallen steeply from 76 percent in 2015.
“Although 16–34s are seen as ad-phobic subscription spearheaders, they actually spend two-thirds of their media time in commercial spaces, which is three percentage points greater than the average adult,” says the report’s author Simon Frazier, Head of TouchPoints Marketing & Data Innovation at the IPA.
Evolving video
The IPA highlights the contribution of new ad tiers on streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney+, finding that 11 percent of UK adults consume part ad-funded commercial SVOD each week – a higher weekly reach than cinema. Commercial TV meanwhile (including live, recorded and BVOD) has fallen below 90 percent weekly reach among all adults, but still delivers “substantial scale in terms of both reach and time spent.”
And while commercial TV has fallen as a share of total media time (from 42 percent in 2015 to 26 percent in 2024), the report notes that total video time remains around 38 percent, albeit fragemented across more media channels, including commercial BVOD, commercial SVOD and other online video.
Looking at the top five commercial media properties by weekly reach in 2024, commercial broadcaster ITV/STV tops the list with 51 percent weekly reach, ahead of Facebook (48 percent) and YouTube (45 percent).
“No medias are dying, they’re just evolving digitally as requirements stay the same; while Commercial Live/Recorded TV reach may be down, take a moment to look at the growth of Commercial BVOD and you might not be so worried,” says Simon Frazier.
Mixing media
The report also breaks down the time spent with commercial media by device, revealing that TV’s share of consumption has fallen from 41 percent in 2015 to 36 percent in 2024 for all adults. This is still ahead of mobile for now, which has grown its share from 20 percent to 32 percent. However, the device breakdown for 16-34s paints a different picture, with a 48 percent share for mobile, more than double the TV set’s 22 percent share.
It is unsurprising then that for this younger age group, the top five media properties by weekly reach in 2024 were entirely social video/media channels, led by YouTube with a 66 percent weekly reach.
For the 35–54 bracket, in 2024, the top five properties were a mix of social channels and broadcasters. Facebook leads the pack with 57 percent weekly reach, followed by ITV/STV (48 percent) and YouTube (47 percent).
Looking at 55+ audiences, commercial TV retains a 90 percent weekly reach in 2024, down from 97 percent in 2015. Over the same period, commercial BVOD has grown from 14 percent to 36 percent, while commercial SVOD has a 9 percent weekly reach.
In terms of the top media properties for the 55+ demographic, ITV/STV has a 70 percent weekly reach, followed by Channel 4 (54 percent) and Channel 5 (43 percent). But Facebook (42 percent) and YouTube (26 percent) also make the top five, suggesting the “huge scale of new opportunities now available to reach audiences aged 55+” is largely untapped, according to the report.
Frazier emphasises the need to diversify media plans in light of these shifting consumption trends, opening up opportunities to reach different age groups where they spend their time.
“Combining diverse planning with the landscape enables us to deliver communications which align with the characteristics of the media in question and optimise for the device the media is being consumed on,” he says. “It enables planning for attention, for moments, at short notice and ultimately enables the minimisation of risk. They say a fragmented mirror brings bad luck, but I’d say a fragmented media landscape is great for us all.”
