Following on from the coronavirus outbreak, people have struggled to find ways to entertain themselves. It’s considered dangerous to socialise with your friends, cinemas and stadiums have been shut down, and some recreational areas have been closed indefinitely. As a result, people have turned to the television and streaming services to entertain themselves. This was a particularly popular activity during lockdown. And so, in our article today, we are going to be looking at what TV and streaming trends have been accelerated by the pandemic. Keep reading to find out more and see if you have contributed to the movement of online entertainment.

More Screen Time

With there being very limited forms of entertainment nowadays, we have seen a massive increase in screen time when it comes to streaming and television services. During the lockdown, Ofcom recorded that the average adult spent 40% of their waking day in front of their screen. This equates to 6 hours and 25 minutes every day or nearly 45 hours per week. With restrictions tightening once more, it wouldn’t be surprising to see screen time climb again.

Streaming Subscriptions

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime saw their subscriptions surge during the pandemic, with Netflix recording that 15 million new people had joined their service. This comes down to the amount of free time that consumers have now. In 2019, people would only spend an average of 34 minutes on a streaming platform every day. In April 2020, however, this average doubled to 1 hour and 11 minutes. This was most prominent in the 16-34 age category, who roughly spent two hours every day on a streaming platform.

Older Audiences

Streaming services have been largely ignored by the older generation, but lockdown invited more silver streamers to the scene. Before coronavirus, only a quarter of people between the ages of 55-65 were subscribed to a streaming platform. This number has risen significantly to one third. There was also an increase in the 65+ age category – with 15% of the elderly now being subscribed, as opposed to 12% before.

Traditional Broadcasters

During the first few weeks of lockdown, everyone was glued to their screens, waiting for the latest news and updates. As a result, traditional television broadcasters saw an increase in demand for their services. The BBC was the most popular channel, being used by 82% of adults. ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 were also sought out during this time. The video-on-demand services that these broadcasters received more viewers, too. Television shows like Killing Eve and Normal People were especially popular, attracting 570 million watchers. Thanks to Red Bee Media and its powerful streaming services, these big broadcasters were able to meet the high demand that lockdown brought about.

Interruptions to Production

Though television channels and streaming services have increased in popularity, they may face some challenges in the future because of coronavirus. Productions across the world have been forced to shut down for several months, which means that there might be a deficit in new entertainment in the coming year. What’s more, public service broadcasting has suffered because of lockdown. Live entertainment shows, important sporting events and soap operas saw their production come to a complete halt. These programmes were forced to run repeats and highlights, which meant their viewership dropped significantly.

These are some of the main television and streaming trends that we witnessed during lockdown. The pandemic has accelerated the popularity of streaming platforms and boosted the viewership for traditional broadcasters, but production companies have suffered (though we suspect they will recover). We imagine that video-on-demand services will continue to prosper, too.