TV continues to dominate millennials’ media lives. Despite the popularity and hype around video services such as YouTube and Netflix, data gathered from around the world show how popular TV remains with younger generations.

To mark World Television Day on November 21st, TV organisations from around the world have brought together the latest statistics to reveal how millennials’ relationship with TV looks today. With data from 14 countries – including the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, and France – the insights show how much TV millennials now watch, how it is the dominant form of video in their lives, how important the TV set remains, the huge reach of TV, and their attitudes towards TV advertising.

Millennials watch hours of TV a day
Although different countries measure and report TV consumption in different ways, what is clear from statistics from across the world is that young people are watching a lot of TV:

·         In the US, 18-24s watch an average of 2 hours, 33 minutes of TV a day, 25-34s watch an average of 3 hours, 50 minutes a day (source: Nielsen, ‘Total Audience Report’, Q2 2015)
·         15-34s in Ireland watch an average 2 hours, 25 minutes of TV a day.  86 per cent of this is watched live (source: Nielsen, Jan-Oct 2015)
·         16-34s in the UK watch 2 hours, 23 minutes of linear TV on a TV set a day (source: BARB, H1 2015)
·         18-34s in Germany watch 2 hours, 21 mins of TV a day (source: AGF/GfK Jan-Oct 2015)
·         In Belgium 12-24s are watching an average of 1 hour, 29 minutes of TV a day, 10 minutes more a day than in 2010 (source: Audimetrie CIM, 2014 vs 2010)
·         Italian 15-34s watch an average of 2 hours, 33 minutes of TV a day (source: Auditel, Nov 2014 – Oct 2015)
·         18-34s in Canada watch 2 hours, 43 minutes of linear TV a day (source: Numerous, Sept 2014-Aug 2015)

TV dominates Millennials’ video world
Some new video services, such as Netflix and YouTube, have gained popularity in recent years. The data gathered from different countries shows their popularity among younger generations relative to TV:

·         In Germany, 74 per cent of 14-29s’ video consumption is accounted for by TV, 26 per cent by online video (source: TNS Convergence Monitor 2015)
·         TV content accounts for 70 per cent of 15-24s’ video consumption in France (source: Mediamétrie, 2015)
·         TV accounts for 65 per cent of 16-24s’ total video consumption in the UK; 7 per cent is YouTube and 4 per cent is Subscription VOD services such as Netflix (source: Thinkbox, ‘Truth about youth’, 2015)
·         18-34s in Canada spend 7.6 times more time watching TV each week than they do on YouTube (19 hours vs. 2.5 hours), 17 times more time with TV than with Netflix (1.1 hours) and 3.3 times more with TV than they spend on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter combined (5.2 hours/ 0.4 hours / 0.2 hours respectively) (source: Digital: comScore Media Metrix; Multi-Platform; Sept 2014 – Aug 2015)
·         TV accounts for 41 per cent of 14-24s’ media day in the UK. The next most popular media activity is social networking/messaging, which accounts for 15.7 per cent (source: IPA Touchpoints, 2014)
·         In the USA, 18-34s spend more time online with ad-supported TV brands than with Google, AOL, MSN and Yahoo! combined or with Facebook. On average, 18-34s in the US spend 39 minutes a month watching TV online compared with 25 minutes with Google/AOL/MSN/Yahoo! and 23 minutes with Facebook (source: Nielsen Npower Live+7 July 2015 P18-34/ VAB analysis of comScore duplicated July 2015 data, mediametrix, multiplatform A18-34)
·         38 per cent of 15-34s in Belgium say TV is the medium they would miss the most compared to 16 per cent for social networks (source: TNS, ‘La perception des médias’, 2015)
·         In Spain, 15-34s spend more time watching TV than doing any other thing online. They spend 2 hours, 28 minutes a day watching TV, triple the 55 minutes they spend online (sources: Kantarmedia/Comscore MMX, 2015)
·         Also in Spain, 9 out of 10 15-34s who use the internet do so to watch TV (source: Comscore MMX, 2015)

The TV set is Millennials’ favourite screen
As new screens proliferate, it means TV can be watched wherever and whenever people want. However, the TV set remains millennials’ favourite way to watch:

·         In the UK, 70 per cent of 16-24s’ total video consumption – 65 per cent of which is TV – takes place on a TV set (source: Thinkbox, ‘The Truth about Youth’)
·         In Australia, 25-34s spend 80.1 per cent of their screen viewing time watching broadcast TV on a TV set, compared to 9.3 per cent watching video (incl. TV) on laptops, 5.6 per cent on smartphones and 5.1 per cent on tablets (source: ‘Australian Multi-Screen report Q2 2015’)
·         For 18-24s in Australia it is a similar picture: 60.9 per cent with broadcast TV on a TV set, 21.9 per cent on laptops, 12.5 per cent on smartphones and 4.7 per cent on tablets (source: ‘Australian Multi-Screen report Q2 2015’)
·         The TV set is by far the most popular device for 15-34s in Finland. 60 per cent of their time spent watching TV and other video content is on TV sets (source: Nelonen media/TNS Gallup, ‘The Future of TV May’, 2015)
·         99 per cent of 13-34s in the Netherlands own a TV set (source:  VIMN/BrandDeli, ‘TV (Re)defined’)
·         Similarly, in Germany, 76 per cent of 14-25s’ total video contact continues to happen on the TV set (source: IP Fourscreen Touchpoints, 2014)
·         In Sweden, 51 per cent of 18-34s’ prefer to watch any video content on a TV set, 33 per cent prefer a laptop, 10 per cent prefer a tablet and 5 per cent opt for their mobile device (source: Reklamkraft, 2015)

TV reaches Millennials like nothing else
TV is the world’s most popular medium for every age group. In an average week, TV reaches:

·         89.9 per cent of 16-34s in the UK (source: BARB, H1 2015)
·         82.6 per cent of 25-39s in Australia (source: OzTAM,  1 Jan-15 Oct 2015, commercial TV only)
·         85 per cent of 15-34s in Finland (source: Finnpanel Oy, H1 2015)
·         77 per cent of 18-34s in Germany (source: AGF/GfK Jan-Oct 2015)
·         88 per cent of 13-24s in the Netherlands (source: SKO, Jan-Oct 2015)
·         96.1 per cent of 18-34s in Canada (source: Numeris, Sept 1 2014 – Aug 30 2015)
·         64 per cent of 15-34s in France (source: Mediamétrie, 2015)
·         72 per cent of 15-29s in Switzerland (source: Mediapulse Fernsehpanel, 2015)
·         71 per cent of 15-24s in Sweden (source: IIS, 2015)
·         74.6 per cent of 15-34s in Italy (source: Auditel, Nov 2014 – Oct 2015)

Millennial attitudes to advertising
The data also shows that Millennials are more favourable towards TV advertising than other forms:

·         16-24s in the UK find TV advertising more enjoyable, memorable and humorous than any other media. 54 per cent enjoy TV advertising, compared to 16 per cent for social media; 69 per cent say TV advertising makes them laugh, compared to 24 per cent for social; and 73 per cent say TV advertising is memorable, compared to 17 per cent for social media (source: Ipsos Mori, ‘TV Nation’, 2014)
·         65.7 per cent of Italian 18-34s of 18-34s claim they pay attention to TV advertising. They also consider it to be more useful  than the average population (source: Gfk Eurisko, 2015)
·         In Canada, 18-34s say they are most likely to pay attention to advertising on TV than other media:  39 per cent picked TV, compared to 12 per cent for Social Networks and 2 per cent for mobile.  They also chose TV as the form of video advertising they are most likely to watch: 64 per cent for TV compared to 7 per cent for phone, 11 per cent for tablet and 16 per cent for computer (source: Omnivu survey, 2015)

Categories: Advertising, Articles, Broadcast, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research