Older audiences in Scotland watch most TV in UK, figures reveal

Older audiences in Scotland watch the most television in the UK, research suggests.

Broadcast watchdog Ofcom said that while Scottish audiences watch the most scheduled programming in the United Kingdom, people aged between 16-24 only spend an hour on average in front of the TV.

As part of its annual study into viewing habits, Ofcom found that over-54s spent almost six hours watching scheduled content – which equates to around a third of a day.

The research also found that those aged 16-24 watch streaming services over three times as much as the older generation.

Younger people watched services such as Disney+ and YouTube on average for around 129 minutes, while older audiences only viewed these platforms for an average of 41 minutes.

The average Scottish household subscribe to at least one streaming service, with Netflix the most popular with two-thirds of adults and teens using the subscription service.

However the total number of homes using streaming services across the UK began to slow in 2021, before starting to decline in spring of this year, with audiences citing cost as the main reason.

Glenn Preston, Ofcom’s Scotland Director, said: “The streaming revolution is stretching the TV generation gap, creating a stark divide in the viewing habits of younger and older people.

“Traditional broadcasters face tough competition from online streaming platforms, which they’re partly meeting through the popularity of their own on-demand services, while broadcast television is still the place to go for programmes that get Scotland talking such as the final of the Euros or dramas set in Scotland such as Vigil and Shetland.”