According to a new survey conducted in the United Kingdom, young adults in the region have replaced television with the popular video-sharing app TikTok as their primary source of entertainment.
UK young adults prefer using TikTok over watching TV for entertainment
TikTok’s popularity skyrocketed during the pandemic and the platform has managed to sustain that growth incredibly well since. In July 2021, it became the first app, that is not under the Meta umbrella, to reach 3 billion downloads worldwide on iOS and Android devices.
In addition to this, the app’s growth has allowed it to become a worthy competitor for Facebook. The Meta-owned social media platform recently reported its first-ever quarterly drop in revenue causing it to lose almost $30 billion in market value for the day. It attributes the dip to rising competition with the video-sharing app. That is also why Meta is pushing Reels on Facebook and Instagram, as well as a new interface similar to TikTok.
Keeping the above-stated information in mind, a new report from the Financial Times revealing that young adults in the United Kingdom prefer using TikTok over watching television is not entirely shocking. The publication brought forth the results from the UK’s annual report on media consumption from the Office of Communications, Ofcom.
Young adults in the UK are spending more time scrolling on social media site TikTok than watching broadcast television, according to an Ofcom report on Wednesday that highlights the growing generational divide in media habits […]
A study for Ofcom by the polling company Ipsos estimated that those aged 15 to 24 spent 57 minutes a day on TikTok alone. This is longer than the 53 minutes that the 16-to-24 age group spends watching broadcast television, a according to a separate survey for Ofcom by BARB, an audience rating agency […]
Less than half of 16 to 24-year-olds watched at least 15 minutes a week of programming on a public-service channel such as a the BBC, ITV or Channel 4.
This is in sharp contrast to over-65s, who watch almost six hours of broadcast TV per day.
Notably, there is a generational difference in users as Generation Z is the biggest market for the platform. With millions of creators, billions of users, and content for everyone to enjoy, TikTok is likely going to see more growth in the coming years.
In addition to phasing out television in the UK, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has filed for a new service “TikTok Music” trademark application in the United States. If the company decides to venture into the streaming service industry, Spotify, Apple Music, and other competitors should be prepared to be on their A game.
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