From television to radio to newspapers and more, adults in Great Britain are now spending an incredible 7 hours and 56 minutes a day consuming media, up 9% from 2016 and 13% from 2005.
This is according to the comprehensive new IPA TouchPoints 2017 data, which reveals how the Great British population spends their daily lives and how their use of communications channels and devices fit into this.
Multi-media consumption also continues to grow. Back in 2005, 79% of adults were consuming two or more media in the same half hour at some point during the week - this has now risen to 92% in 2017. Furthermore, over 26% of all adults are consuming more than three different media in any half hour.
In terms of time, the TouchPoints 2017 data reveals that this means adults spend just over 2 hours a day (2 hours and 7 minutes) media multi-tasking - that is nearly a quarter of the time spent consuming media in total.
Which medium are we consuming most?
For all adults, television/video* is still the largest medium in terms of both weekly reach and average hours viewed, Out Of Home (OOH) is the second largest, followed by radio with social networking/messaging in fourth place. Even for millennials, television maintains its position as the largest medium overall, however, social media/messaging is now vying with OOH to be their second largest medium.
All adults:
Average Daily Hours |
Weekly Reach % |
Medium |
4hrs 35mins |
99.1 |
TV/Video |
3hrs 28mins |
99.5 |
Out of Home |
3hrs 9mins |
91.1 |
Radio/Audio |
2hrs 53mins |
76.1 |
Social Media |
2hrs 16mins |
10.3 |
Cinema |
2hrs 15mins |
74.8 |
Internet** |
1hr 10mins |
50.3 |
Newsbrands |
50mins |
31.6 |
Magazines |
**Internet time / reach refers to any internet use such as shopping, searching etc but not for media consumption, or social or communications activity.
Aged 15-34:
Average Daily Hours |
Weekly Reach |
Medium |
% |
||
3hrs 45mins |
98.9 |
TV/Video |
3hrs 38mins |
94.6 |
Social Media |
3hrs 25mins |
99.5 |
OOH |
2hrs 44mins |
91.5 |
Radio/Audio |
2hrs 32mins |
75.4 |
Internet** |
2hrs 14mins |
14.4 |
Cinema |
56mins |
35 |
Newsbrands |
46mins |
20.7 |
Magazines |
**Internet time / reach refers to any internet use such as shopping, searching etc but not for media consumption, or social or communications activity.
Further highlights from the rich TouchPoints 2017 dataset reveals peak times for media consumption, and the rising popularity of social messaging sites including Whatsapp, Snapchat and Instagram, and more:
Says IPA President Sarah Golding and CEO of CHI & Partners: “This latest TouchPoints 2017 data proves, unequivocally, that our media consumption patterns are continuing to grow and fragment as technology, new platforms and media channels are delivering an ever wider choice of content, available to us on a 24/7 basis. The knock-on effect on our lives – both personally and professionally – cannot be underestimated. As such, this data is invaluable in helping our industry to recognise the most appropriate ways to approach consumers – one that improves lives rather than interrupts.”
The TouchPoints 2017 data also revealed that:
A breakdown of the full 2017 Media Day is available here.
For more information and to subscribe to TouchPoints visit www.ipa.co.uk/touchpoints and join the conversation at #IPATouchPoints