Wales TV habits see largest generational gap, Ofcom says

Younger adults in Wales now watch about a fifth of the amount of scheduled TV than those over 55, according to a report from regulator Ofcom.

TV screen time for 16 to 24-year-olds was on average one hour and six minutes.

But the older generation spent nearly half their waking day in front of the TV - at six hours.

"The streaming revolution is stretching the TV generation gap," said Ofcom's Director for Wales, Eleanor Marks.

She added it was "creating a stark divide in the viewing habits of younger and older people".

"Traditional broadcasters face tough competition, which they've partly met through the popularity of their own on-demand player apps.

"Combined viewing to the main five Public Service Broadcasting (PBS) channels continues to account for more than half of broadcast TV viewing in Wales."

The report also found TV users in Wales were more likely than the UK average to have a connected TV.

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Covid-19 restrictions in Wales were thought to be the main drivers for the increase in screen time in 2020 - when people spent five hours and six minutes on average watching TV and video content per day.

That figure fell by 33 minutes in 2021.

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Growth was also seen in video-on-demand services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.

Ofcom said about a fifth homes in the UK subscribed to all three of the most popular platforms.

And in Wales, they proved increasingly popular with 70% of households signing up to at least one - up from 64% in 2021.

The report noted nine in 10 people aged 18 to 24 bypassed TV channels and headed straight to streaming, on-demand and social video services when looking for something to watch.

Meanwhile 59% of 55 to 64-year-olds still enjoyed a flick through the channels first.

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How many people listen to the radio?

In 2021, nine in 10 adults listened to the radio in Wales for an average of 22 hours each week, with BBC network radio stations continuing to have the largest market share.

Wales also appeared to be leading the way in old-fashioned listening habits.

More adults prefer to listen to the radio on one of these than via online services

Listening to live radio on a radio set was higher for adults in Wales, at 74%, compared with 65% of adults in Great Britain.

But weekly reach of music streaming and online radio was lower than average.

Other findings from the report include:

• The average time spent watching services like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, S4C Clic and All 4 increased to 15 minutes in the last year

• Younger people's broadcast viewing in the UK down two thirds in a decade

• Seven in 10 Welsh viewers are satisfied with PSB

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