Younger adults now watch nearly seven times less scheduled TV than people over the age of 65, according to figures from Ofcom.

The regulator’s data shows that 16–24-year-olds spend less than an hour – 53 minutes – in front of broadcast TV in an average day. This represents a fall of two-thirds in the past 10 years.

Those aged 65 and over still spend a third of their day watching broadcast TV, watching nearly six hours’ worth a day – slightly higher than a decade ago.

“The streaming revolution is stretching the TV generation gap, creating a stark divide in the viewing habits of younger and older people,” said Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence. “Traditional broadcasters face tough competition from online streaming platforms, which they’re partly meeting through the popularity of their own on-demand player apps, while broadcast television is still the place to go for big events that bring the nation together such as the Euro final or the jubilee celebrations.”

Roughly a fifth of homes - 5.2 million - subscribe to all three of the most popular platforms – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ – costing around £300 per year.

Nine in ten 18-24-year-old adults bypass TV channels and head straight to streaming, on-demand and social video services when looking for something to watch, with Netflix the most common destination.

Six in ten – 59 per cent of 55-64-year-olds and 76 per cent of those aged 65+ still turn to TV channels first.

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