Media Nations 2021

Media Nations 2021: UK (PDF, 3.1 MB)

Key points

• The pandemic caused an acceleration in existing viewing trends as people spent more time watching on-demand services.
• 2020 was a landmark year for SVoD, and an important time for BVoD services.
• TV advertising revenue is set to rebound in 2021, but TV broadcasters are having to adapt to stay competitive.
• Broadcasters and producers experienced significant difficulties in creating new original content because of Covid-19 restrictions.
• The radio and audio sector continues to take advantage of DAB and online platforms to innovate.

Media Nations 2021: Northern Ireland (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Key points

• Paid-for satellite and cable television services from Sky or Virgin Media were present in four in ten homes in Northern Ireland (40%) as of Q3 2020.
• More than half of households in Northern Ireland (57%) have at least one subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service from companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Now TV.
• Netflix is still the largest, with more than half (52%) of households having a subscription, followed by Amazon Prime Video (27%) and Disney+ (8%).
• The BBC iPlayer is the most popular broadcast video-on-demand (BVoD) player in Northern Ireland; it was watched in six in ten Northern Ireland homes (61%) at the beginning of 2021. The ITV Hub (42%) was the next most popular BVoD player, followed by All4 (33%) and My5 (18%).
• People in Northern Ireland spent an average of 4 hours 19 minutes per day watching something on the television screen in 2020, up by 36 minutes since 2019.
• In 2020, broadcast TV viewing in Northern Ireland bucked the long-term trend of decline and increased for the first time in a decade. This can largely be attributed to the pandemic.
• On average, people in Northern Ireland spent 3 hours 8 minutes every day watching broadcast television in 2020, 14 minutes more than in 2019.
• In the week commencing 23 March 2020, when the UK Prime Minister announced the first lockdown, average daily viewing of broadcast television peaked at 3 hours 42 minutes in Northern Ireland.
• Viewing declined as lockdown restrictions were eased, but began to increase again from August, climbing to a second peak in November and December, as restrictions were tightened and people in Northern Ireland spent most of the holiday period at home.
• Older people in Northern Ireland continue to watch more broadcast TV than younger viewers. Those aged 55+ watched 5 hours 39 minutes on average a day in 2020, up by 15% compared to 2019, while those aged 16-24 watched just 48 minutes of broadcast TV a day, down 23% compared to 2019.
• There was a 30% decrease in spending on first-run content for viewers in Northern Ireland in 2020, with spend on current affairs decreasing the most, at 43%. News accounts for the largest share of first-run spend (43%) in Northern Ireland.
• BBC hours of first-run content in Northern Ireland dropped by 6% in 2020 to 568 hours. Overall, news content makes up the largest amount of the BBC’s output for Northern Ireland, comprising 51% of first-run hours.
• Some 1.6% of qualifying network spend on the PSB channels was on Northern Ireland-based productions in 2020.
• More than eight in ten adults (84%) in Northern Ireland listen to the radio every week.
• More than half of all homes in Northern Ireland have a smart speaker (53%). The Amazon Echo is by far the most popular type (found in 67% of homes in Northern Ireland that have a smart speaker).
• The most popular reasons given by users in Northern Ireland for using smart speakers were to listen to music via a streaming service like Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer (65%), a live radio station (64%) or to get weather information (37%).
• It was a challenging year for the commercial radio sector, with revenues per head down 10% in 2020.

Media Nations 2021: Scotland (PDF, 2.2 MB)

Key points

• As of Q3 2020, paid-for satellite and cable television services from Sky and Virgin Media were present in just over four in ten homes in Scotland (43%).
• Nearly two-thirds of households in Scotland (60%) have a subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service from companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ or Now TV.
• Netflix is still the largest, with more than half (55%) of households having a subscription, followed by Amazon Prime Video (33%) and Disney+ (13%).
• The BBC iPlayer is the most popular broadcast video-on-demand (BVoD) player in Scotland, watched in about six in ten Scottish homes (61%). The STV Player (50%) was the next most popular BVoD player, followed by All4 (40%) and My5 (21%).
• People in Scotland spent an average of 5 hours 9 minutes per day watching something on the television screen in 2020, up by 48 minutes since 2019.
• In 2020, broadcast TV viewing in Scotland bucked the long-term trend of decline, increasing for the first time in a decade. This can largely be attributed to the pandemic.
• On average, people in Scotland spent 3 hours 39 minutes per day watching broadcast TV on the TV set in 2020, the most of any nation in the UK.
• In the week commencing 23 March, when the UK Prime Minister announced the first national lockdown and the First Minister held a subsequent press conference confirming restrictions in Scotland, average daily viewing of broadcast television peaked at 4 hours 26 minutes.
• Viewing declined as lockdown restrictions eased but began to increase again from September, climbing to a second peak in November and December, as restrictions were tightened and people in Scotland spent most of the holiday period at home.
• Older people in Scotland continue to watch more broadcast TV than younger viewers. Those aged 55+ watched 6 hours 8 minutes on average a day in 2020, up by 12% compared to 2019, while those aged 16-24 watched just 72 minutes of broadcast TV a day, down 8% compared to 2019.
• There was a 25% decrease in spending on first-run content for viewers in Scotland in 2020, with spend on non-news/non-current affairs decreasing the most at 37%. Non-news/non-current affairs accounts for the largest share of first-run spend (51%) in Scotland.
• BBC hours of first-run content in Scotland grew by 3% in 2020 to 2,071 hours. Overall, news content makes up the largest amount of the BBC’s output for Scotland, comprising 52% of first-run hours (including BBC ALBA).
• Some 4.1% of qualifying network spend on the PSB channels was on Scotland-based productions in 2020.
• About three-quarters of adults in Scotland tune into the radio every week.
• Just over half of homes in Scotland have smart speakers (54%). The Amazon Echo is by far the most popular smart speaker (in 70% of smart speaker homes).
• The most-cited use of smart speakers among users in Scotland was for listening to music via a streaming service such as Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer (67%) followed by live radio (56%).
• It was a challenging year for the commercial radio sector, with revenues per head down 20% in 2020.

Media Nations 2021: Wales (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Cyfryngau'r Genedl 2021: Cymru (PDF, 2.6 MB)

Key points

Annex 1: Methodologies (PDF, 265.6 KB)