Not everyone sees television the same way. The way we watch television depends upon our age and availability to view. Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial television in the United Kingdom, recently held an event in London at which they attempted to dispel some of the misconceptions about television advertising and in particular the impact of YouTube.
Total television viewing in the United Kingdom is about 184 million hours a day. That is the average for 2025, across all screens in the home, for those aged over 16.
YouTube accounts for about 15 million hours per day on televisions for those aged over 16, and about 42 million hours a day on other devices, for those aged over 15.
Television has a daily reach of over 25 million people aged over 16. YouTube has a slightly higher reach, but on a monthly basis.
Thinkbox commissioned research to identify what people watch on YouTube, using a custom nationally representative panel of 1,000 people aged over 16.
The research found that just over 40% of their YouTube viewing was “TV-like” material, and over half of that was music, with a further fifth being television or film clips. The majority of viewing was described as not “TV-like”, led by gaming and entertainment.
Based on Barb research, across all individuals aged over 4, the heaviest quartile of viewers watched an average of just over two hours of YouTube a day. The heaviest viewers were most likely to be aged under 16. The other three quarters watched an average of 6 minutes a day.
Even the heavy YouTube viewers still watch mass market television programmes, like Traitors, Strictly, Bake Off, and the soaps, although Thinkbox did not go into how much.
Thinkbox estimates based on industry data that across all individuals average audiovisual advertising time is about 16.5 minutes a day. It estimates that 85% is on television, at over 14 minutes a day, with 12% on YouTube, at approaching 2 minutes a day.
However, among those aged 16-34, audiovisual advertising is just under 9 minutes a day, with less than half on television, at 4.5 minutes, and a third on YouTube, at just under 3 minutes. Considering television advertising makes up 48% of all audiovisual advertising, that is very much a glass half full view.
The problem with talking about numbers and advertising is that everyone has something to sell. Television remains a major mainstream medium, but its commercial model is being eroded by new entrants.
One can argue whether YouTube is television or like television, but if it is viewed on television it is competing for the same audience. If a third of audiovisual advertising viewed by young adults is on YouTube, traditional channels face a growing challenge.
Material from the Thinkbox presentation, Now and Next is available from the Thinkbox web site.