Today we’ve published our latest research into how people in the UK access and consume different forms of media.
We’ve pulled out some of the main findings in our news release, but the report contains such a wealth of findings that we wanted to highlight some of the other interesting facts and figures that we found.
To take a look at all the findings in more detail, you can read the full UK and nations reports.
Most viewers are happy with public service broadcasters
Seven in ten people who use public service broadcasters (PSBs) said they are satisfied with them. The PSBs are considered to deliver well in most areas, in particular delivering a wide range of different types of programmes and content (73%), programmes and content made for UK audiences (72%) and high quality and creative programmes and content (72%).
There are similarly high levels of satisfaction among children, with viewers aged 8-16 and the parents of younger children agreeing that PSBs overall provide high quality programmes they enjoy (72%) and programmes and content that helps them learn (71%).
Radio remains important to many of us – especially on the move
People listening in their vehicles are an increasingly important audience for radio, and account for a quarter of time spent listening– up from a fifth in 2022. At the same, listening to the radio at home has fallen. Just under a quarter of listeners say they only listen to the radio while they’re in the car.
Meanwhile, podcasts’ popularity continues to rise
Over a quarter of adults (27%) now listen to a podcast each week, according to RAJAR figures – a significant rise from 7% a decade ago. Early adopters in 2016 were mainly under the age of 35, but 45-54s now have a higher-than-average reach – and 13% of people aged 65+ now listen to podcasts too. There’s a slight gender difference among podcast listeners, with 29% of men and 24% of women listening weekly.
Most people get their news online
Digital platforms are playing an increasing role in news consumption in the UK, and are used by 82% of people aged 16+, compared to 76% who watch broadcast television news. Social media also plays a central role, with 60% of people using it for news. We also found a generational divide in news consumption habit - television (including on-demand) as a source of news is more popular among older people, with 90% of those aged 75+ using it to get their news, compared to 69% of people aged 16-24. And the reverse is true for online news, with 92% of 16-34s going online to access news, compared to only 47% of those over 75.
But during elections, TV coverage shows its value
Despite the growth in online news consumption, we also found that TV has an important role to play when elections are taking place. We looked at audiences in Scotland and Wales immediately after the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru elections, and also in areas of England where local elections / mayoral elections took place earlier this year. Across the surveyed areas, six in ten (62%) people who had been aware of the elections had seen news about them on TV, while only a third said they’d seen news or information about the elections online. At the same time, 15% got election-related news through radio or podcasts, while 13% got it from newspapers.
Pay-TV revenues are growing, despite subscriber numbers standing still
Revenues for pay-TV and subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services grew by over £1bn to £11.4bn in 2025. However, as subscriber numbers plateau, growth has been driven by price increases and bundled offerings. In addition, SVoD platforms are also building in advertising, diversifying their revenue bases. Seventy per cent of UK households had at least one SVoD subscription in 2026, an increase of only two percentage points since 2022.
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