YouTube viewing on TV is getting a Gen Alpha-fueled boost in the UK, according to the sixth edition of Ofcom’s annual Media Nations report, which was released today.

The UK media regulator has provided a breakdown of domestic audience viewing habits, highlighting some important trends driving the kids & family market. Here are some key takeaways and data-points from the full report.

Streaming slows: The proportion of UK households with an SVOD service continued to plateau in Q1 2025. At 68%, it’s at the same level as it was in 2021. Netflix unsurprisingly has the best reach, with a presence in nearly six out of every 10 UK households—and it also accounted for half of all SVOD viewing last year. 

YouTube’s TV takeover: YouTube is increasingly a top destination for kids when it comes to deciding what to watch on their television sets. In fact, 20% of four- to 15-year-olds go straight to the YouTube app as soon as they turn on the TV, followed closely by Netflix (18%). Ofcom recently urged more collaboration and discoverability for public broadcasters on the platform.

Revenue growth: The UK commercial TV and online video sector generated US$22.7 billion (GBP£17.1 billion) in revenue last year, a 3.3% uptick compared to 2023’s US$21.9 billion (GBP£16.5 billion). Even as growth rates have decelerated, SVOD revenues were up 10% year-over-year as streamers strategically increased their focus on ad tiers.

Year-over-year declines: Across all cohorts (over the age of four), people in the UK spent 4% less time watching broadcast TV in 2024 than in 2023, with the average viewing time dropping to two hours and 24 minutes a day on television sets. Children ages four to 15 averaged around 36 minutes of daily broadcast TV time in 2024.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

BBC reigns supreme: Even with tough streaming competition, UK broadcasters still managed to deliver half of the 10 most-watched TV shows and films last year. And the BBC can celebrate twice as hard, having scored the two most-watched titles overall—including Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (pictured inset, 16.9 million viewers) in second place (behind adult-skewing Gavin & Stacey: The Finale).

Family appeal: The report noted that family content is a strong SVOD performer and key to subscriber retention. Based on UK ratings board Barb’s figures, the top streaming title in the UK last year was Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru (2022), which accrued 13.7 million views on Netflix. The sing-along edition of 2016 pic Moana was another big streaming movie, at roughly 11.5 million views on Disney+.

Originals uncertainty: Even as UK originals such as Netflix’s Adolescence achieved breakout success, Ofcom cites Ampere Analysis data showing that major streamers only released a “modest number” of hours in this category last year. On the kids front, there were 12 hours of new UK original content released last year—higher than in 2023 (seven hours) but roughly a third less than in 2022 (34 hours). 

BVOD boost: Ofcom highlighted the power of broadcaster video-on-demand consumption, which accounted for the majority of Barb-measured in-home video viewing last year. BVOD is estimated to have cornered a 56% share, which is more or less on par with 2023’s 57% tally. And the overall time spent on watching content this way (25 minutes per person per day) surpassed the average time spent watching recorded playback of live channels (23 minutes per person per day) for the first time ever.