YouTube’s TV journey: Becoming a go-to destination

Growing BVOD usage in 2025 was unable to offset declining broadcast viewing, whilst YouTube continued its advance on the TV set and SVOD engagement growth was driven by older viewers.

Households are increasingly shifting towards IP-delivered video, whether through IP-only devices, or more likely hybrid UK TV platforms.

Young people’s viewing to SVOD services is less volatile across the year and throughout the day than YouTube and broadcasters—the latter of which is more likely to be shared with other people.

We forecast broadcaster viewing to decline to 50% of all video viewing by 2031 (from 54% in 2025), driven by continued declines in live viewing, albeit at a slower rate than the sharp year-on-year drop seen in 2025. 

Non-live broadcaster viewing will increase its share, supported by older demographics as viewing plateaus among under-35s—a trend also true of SVOD services. YouTube is projected to continue its advance on the TV set across all ages. 

Although total TV ‘usage’ is flat versus pre-COVID levels, a material and seemingly growing proportion of it (~9%) is when nothing is being watched (e.g. pausing, browsing): this is correlated with smartphone usage and impinges on actual viewing volumes. 

The centre of gravity for kids’ media has shifted. YouTube now captures around 44% of UK children’s viewing, with broadcasters adapting to stay relevant in an environment built around algorithmic discovery and constant replay.

Alongside the BBC, YouTube is one of the few spaces where education and entertainment intersect. Around a third of our sample of 5–8s YouTube Kids videos were educational, while older cohorts gravitate toward faster, creator-driven formats.

There remains a distinction between YouTube and broadcaster kids’ programmes: we found YouTube-native content twice as fast, and brighter, although the broadcast content that also runs on YouTube shows less disparity. Broadly, on YouTube, US-originated formats dominate.