The Impact of Video-On-Demand on TV Viewing in the UK: Routes to Content After Covid-19 - Interim Report

The report examines how television viewing habits have changed in the UK since the increased uptake of video-on-demand (VOD) and streaming services during 2020. It not only asks what channels/services people are watching, but also interrogates their depth of engagement and how they find and discover content. It defines TV as any audiovisual content, from movies and television programmes to online videos, viewed on small screens, such as television sets, tablets, computers and mobile phones, including through TV channels, on-demand and video-sharing services. The report is based on data gathered through a representative survey of 1,495 people in the UK conducted in May 2021. This interim report is largely based on descriptive statistics related to the technological and industrial factors shaping how people in the UK watch television and how they find and decide what to watch. The research was cofunded by the Screen Industries Growth Network and the University of Huddersfield. The report is part of a larger Routes to Content project at the University of Huddersfield and builds on two waves of qualitative research conducted in 2019 (‘Routes to Content’, January 2020) and 2020 (‘Covid TV’, October 2020).1 A full report of the survey findings will be published later in 2022.