Research: 5m Brits spend full working day on VoD
January 20, 2022
Research from digital experience specialist Acquia shows just how much Covid is catalysing the time Brits are spending on screens as the UK continues to navigate working from home and the pandemic.
The research shows that up to 5 million people in the UK are currently watching seven or more hours of streaming video content (Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ etc) every day, equivalent to a full working day (minus lunch). Some 6.9 million are watching through their Smart TV.
The study was part of a broader look at consumer tech use during the pandemic. Over 4 million people (8 per cent of the UK) admit to using their phone for seven hours or more every day, while 6 per cent of the UK population – the equivalent of 3.2 million people across the country – are stuck on video calls for seven hours or more each day.
Perhaps as a consequence of navigating months of the pandemic and so-called ‘Zoom Fatigue’, 12 million people are avoiding video calls entirely. Furthermore, one in ten people are spending a full day on social media apps and websites. Extrapolating its survey of 1,000 people with adult population data from ONS, Acquia’s research explored changing consumer behaviour online.
“Clearly, the surge in use of digital channels like Netflix caused by the pandemic must plateau at some point – but it looks like the changed behaviours might last beyond Covid,” notes Tom Bianchi, Europe CMO at Acquia. “Expectations of digital are very high and businesses that fail to offer customers digital experiences that match what customers are used to will quickly fall behind.”