Television accounted for 94.6% of video advertising in the United Kingdom in 2018, down only a fraction from 95% the previous year. Put another way, only a minute of the average 18.5 minutes of video advertising a day seen by viewers was not from broadcast or online television programmes. Thinkbox, the television advertising industry association, suggests this is a story of remarkable stability, especially given the proliferation of new forms of video advertising. Yet the shift from broadcast viewing among those aged 16-34 is significant, with live television down 5% in a year.
There is no single source of measurement across all forms of video. Thinkbox conducts an annual analysis of video viewing, based on the best available data from sources including BARB, comScore, and IPA Touchpoints.
Total video viewing of 4 hours and 41 minutes of video viewing a day in 2018 was up 2 minutes on 2017.
Broadcaster television services accounted for 69% of this, which was 2% less than 2017. The majority of that is still live television, although that has fallen to 52%, from 55.7%. Playback television, recorded and viewed later, rose to 11.8% from 11.2%, while broadcaster video on demand rose to 4.5% from 3.8%.
Television still represents the vast majority of video advertising viewed. The remaining 5.4% of total video advertising viewing is shared between YouTube with 3%, Facebook and other online video with 2%, and cinema advertising with 0.4%.
Television accounted for just 45.1% of all video viewing among the 16-34 year age, down from 50.1% in 2017. Within that, broadcaster video on demand viewing rose to 7.4% from 6.4%. Meanwhile, YouTube viewing rose to an astonishing 24.6%, up from 22.2%, while subscription video on demand services increased to 15.7% from 12.2%
Yet even among the 16-34 year age range, television still accounts for 87.2% of video advertising viewing.
Television advertising revenue in the United Kingdom was worth £5.11 billion in 2018, including spot advertising, sponsorship, broadcaster video on demand, addressable television, interactive television advertising, and product placement. £760 million of that was spent by online businesses, an increase of 7% year on year. Amazon spent £60 million, which was 21% up on the previous year, making it the biggest advertiser in that category.
The largest television advertiser overall was Proctor and Gamble, spending £169 million, as reported by Nielsen.