Media Nations 2021
05 August 2021
This is Ofcom’s fourth annual Media Nations report, a research report for industry, policymakers, academics and consumers.
The main objectives of the report are to review key trends in the media sector and set out how audiences are served in the UK. We adopt a cross-platform perspective, including broadcast TV and radio, as well as digital delivery including online video and audio streaming.
As in previous years, this report is accompanied by an interactive report containing an extensive range of data. We also publish separate reports for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales covering specific themes and issues relevant to those nations.
Media Nations: the reports
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
- Paid-for satellite and cable television services from Sky and Virgin Media were present in nearly half of homes in Wales (46%) as of Q3 2020.
- More than half of households in Wales (59%) have a 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 (53%) of households having a subscription, followed by Amazon Prime Video (33%) and Disney+ (15%).
- The BBC iPlayer is the most popular broadcast video-on-demand (BVoD) player in Wales; it was watched in nearly two-thirds of homes (64%) at the beginning of 2021. The ITV Hub (54%) was the next most popular BVoD player, followed by All4 (44%) and My5 (30%).
- People in Wales spent an average of 5 hours 6 minutes per day watching something on the television screen in 2020, up by 40 minutes on 2019.
- In 2020, broadcast TV viewing in Wales bucked the long-term trend of decline and increased for the first time since 2012.
- On average, people in Wales watched 3 hours 29 minutes of broadcast TV on the TV set per day in 2020, the second highest of all the nations (behind Scotland) and an 8-minute increase on 2019.
- In the week commencing 23 March, when the UK Prime Minister announced the first lockdown, average daily viewing of broadcast television peaked at 3 hours 58 minutes in Wales.
- Viewing declined as lockdown restrictions were eased, but as national lockdown restrictions tightened again from October, viewing climbed to a second peak in December, as people in Wales spent most of the holiday period at home.
- Older people in Wales continue to watch more broadcast TV than younger viewers. Those aged 55+ watched 5 hours 59 minutes on average a day in 2020, up by 7% compared to 2019, while those aged 16-24 watched just 64 minutes of broadcast TV a day, up 3% compared to 2019.
- There was a 22% decrease in spending on first-run content for viewers in Wales in 2020, with spend on non-news/non-current affairs decreasing the most at 30%. Non-news/non-current affairs accounts for the largest share of first-run spend (50%) in Wales.
- BBC hours of first-run content in Wales dropped by 2% in 2020 to 616 hours. Overall, news content makes up the largest amount of the BBC’s output for Wales, comprising 61% of first-run hours.
- Some 7.5% of qualifying network spend on the PSB channels was on Wales-based productions in 2020.
- Eight in ten adults in Wales listen to radio every week.
- Nearly six in ten homes in Wales have smart speakers (57%). The Amazon Echo is by far the most popular type (found in 72% of homes in Wales that have a smart speaker).
- The most-cited requests among users were to play music via a streaming service, such as on Spotify (70%), or to listen to a live radio station (61%).
- It was a challenging year for the commercial radio sector. Radio revenues per head in Wales fell by 29% in 2020 to £3.92, the lowest across the UK nations.
Interactive report
This accompanying data report provides an extensive range of data.