Public Service Broadcasters remain the most watched by audiences in Wales, despite a decline in overall TV viewing

• The time people in Wales spent watching TV and video content grew in 2023 rising to 5 hours and 4 minutes per day, more than any of the UK nations
• The stark divide between generations remains with younger viewers watching just 37 minutes of broadcast TV each week
• Radio listening in Wales is the highest of the UK Nations with more than half listening at least once a week

People in Wales watched more TV and video content at home in 2023, averaging 5 hours and 4 minutes, an increase of 20 minutes since 2022, and higher than the UK average of 4 hours and 31 minutes. Viewers in Wales spent more time watching catch-up services from the Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) in Wales, such as iPlayer, ITVX and Clic, than the rest of the UK (26 minutes per day, six minutes longer than the UK average.)

In line with the UK trend, daily broadcast TV viewing continued to fall to 2 hours and 42 minutes. This was three minutes less than in 2022, putting the average Wales viewing time lower than Northern Ireland for the first time. Except for Northern Ireland, Wales had the smallest decline of all the nations (1.9%), 3.7 percentage points smaller than the average UK decrease.   
 
According to Ofcom’s Media Nations report on trends in the media sectors in Wales published today, younger audiences (16-24) in Wales watch the least amount of broadcast TV at an average of 37 minutes per day, a fall of 21.5% since 2022. However, there was relatively little change among older audiences aged 55+ in 2023 who continue to watch more TV than any other age group at an average of 4 hours and 59 minutes per day.

In Wales the proportion of households with a subscription streaming service grew with 70% receiving at least one service in the first quarter of 2024, up from 63% a year before. Netflix remains the most popular service, with 68% of people saying that they’ve used the service. More than eight in 10 viewers (84%) in Wales with an internet connection at home had a connected TV, higher than the UK average (73%). TV users in Wales were more likely to use an internet connection to watch streaming services (e.g. Netflix and Amazon Prime, often found on the menu or home screen) on their smart TV than in the UK overall (51% compared to 42%). 

Trusted and accurate news 

For audiences in Wales ‘trusted and accurate UK news’ is considered to be one of the most important areas for PSBs to deliver to society overall, with almost half (48%) ranking it in their top three. This was followed by offering ‘a wide range of different types of programmes’ (43%), ‘programmes that help me to understand what is going on in the world today’ (28%) and ‘programmes that are relevant to me’ (28%).

When it comes to sourcing news in general, BBC One was the most-used news source in Wales by people over 16 (47%), followed by ITV Cymru Wales (34%). Facebook was the third most popular source (32%). No newspapers featured in the top ten sources of news.

A nation of rugby viewers 

Live national sport remains hugely popular with audience in Wales with both the Rugby World Cup and the Six Nations featuring in the top 10 most watched programmes. The World Cup group match between Wales and Australia, on ITV Cymru Wales, attracted an average of 610,000 viewers on ITV Cymru, while the Scotland-Wales Six Nations match was watched by 515,000 viewers on BBC Cymru Wales. 

Audiences in Wales are making the most of the many choices they have to consume media content. Yet, live, recorded and catch-up broadcast TV still has considerable appeal for many viewers in Wales, despite the continued growth and competition of streaming and specialist services.

- Elinor Williams, Principal, Regulatory Affairs, Ofcom Wales

BBC Radio listening highest in Wales

Radio listening also remains strong in Wales with almost nine in ten adults (89.2%) tuning in each week, higher than the UK average. And as well as radio reaching more people in Wales, they are also listening for longer. People in Wales listen for 20.9 hours per week, compared to the UK average of 20.5 hours. 

Over half of people in Wales (57.2%) listen to BBC radio stations at least once a week, higher than the UK average of 55.6%. Radio 2 was the most listened to radio station in Wales. Radio Cymru was among the top five stations listened to in north Wales while Radio Wales was among the most popular with listeners in south Wales. Reach of BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru increased to its highest levels since spring 2022. By the end of March this year 348,000 were listening to Radio Wales each week with 113,000 listening to Radio Cymru.

Online listening continues to grow steadily and accounts for a quarter (24.5%) of all radio listening. Spotify Premium remains popular and accounted for the majority (63%) of total time spent streaming music in Wales, higher than the average across Great Britain as a whole (58%)

Notes to Editors

Table of ten most-watched TV programmes in Wales in 2023