The share of UK adults watching ad-funded subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services has tripled in the past year, according to new IPA research.
The IPA Touchpoint Making Sense: The Commercial Media Landscape report, published on 10 September, finds that 30% of UK adults now access an ad-supported streaming service each week — up from just 11% in 2024.
Growth has been strong across every age group:
- 16–34s: 36% (up from 12%)
- 35–54s: 36% (up from 13%)
- 55+: 21% (up from 9%)
Simon Frazier, report author and IPA’s head of TouchPoints marketing & data innovation, said that his team had been tracking SVoD ‘since Netflix first introduced their advertising-funded tier in the UK in 2023, and after some incremental growth in 2024 we have seen a major change this year with the weekly reach rising considerably.’
Netflix leads the market, with 16% of UK adults using its ad-funded service weekly. Amazon Prime follows at 15%, and Disney+ at 7%. The trend coincides with price hikes for ad-free tiers, pushing more subscribers towards cheaper ad-supported models.
The report also marks a turning point in viewing habits. For the first time, smartphones have overtaken TV as the primary device for curated commercial media. UK adults now spend 35% of their viewing time on smartphones, versus 34% on TV. Adding tablets raises mobile share to 40%.
Among 16–34s, smartphones account for half of all viewing time, more than double TV’s 22%. In contrast, over-55s still spend most of their screen time with television (46%), though that’s down from 50% a year ago.
Live and recorded TV reach continues to decline, hitting 73% of adults weekly, compared with 96% in 2015. The channel is now level with social media as the UK’s third most prevalent, behind OOH (95%) and search/email (85%).
The weekly reach of BBC services is down from 95% in 2015 to 82% in 2025. Forty percent of all adults and 47% of 16-34s now believe that the BBC is not worth the licence fee, drastically up from 27% for all adults and 31% of 16-34s in 2015, and marginally up from 2024.
Overall, UK adults spend eight hours and 13 minutes per day with curated commercial media — three minutes more than last year, but still 14 minutes less than in 2015.
Digital now accounts for 63% of that time, up from 42% a decade ago. Younger audiences are increasingly conscious of their usage, with over a quarter of 16–34s saying they actively limit screen time, almost double the all-adult average.
The report also highlights that advertisers continue to underestimate older audiences. The over-55s, it argues, are the ‘biggest missed opportunity in advertising today’, given they hold the highest levels of disposable income and leisure time.
Caroline Malone, chief design officer at Initiative, said in the report: ‘They’re online, engaged and have the disposable income to prove it. Yet, we’re still obsessing over Gen Z. It’s time to rewire our thinking and recognise the potential of this often-overlooked demographic. As the report states, the shifts we witness for 55+ may not happen at the lightning-fast pace seen in 16–34, but by a huge margin 55+ have the most scope for new media opportunities.’
Main image by Oscar Nord on Unsplash
