F or many, watching television was a ritual. You sat down at a specific time, on a specific night, to watch a specific show – often with millions of other viewers. Miss the episode and you would either be forced to ask others what happened or (even worse) wait months for a repeat. Fast-forward to 2026 and that ritualistic approach to viewing still exists, but in an entirely different way. Content consumption now takes many forms – anything from doomscrolling on TikTok or Instagram to a non-committal dip in and out across TV, phones and tablets. Instead of missing episodes, viewers are now binging entire series in one sitting, having exchanged print TV guides and retro-style teletext for algorithms and AI that practically choose your content for you. Audience behaviour has shifted from channel-led viewing to a hyper-personalised, on-demand experience. We’re here with the key numbers, from an array of industry white papers and reports to help dissect that.
Salutations to the streamers! It was only around a decade ago that streaming services were seen mostly as complementary to traditional TV. Now, they are increasingly the primary way in which audiences consume content. In May 2025, streaming accounted for 44.8% of total television usage, surpassing the combined share of cable and broadcast viewing for the first time, which together represented 44.2% of usage. By December of last year, streaming’s share had climbed even further to 47.5% of all TV viewing. The speed of that growth has been dramatic. Between May 2021 and May 2025 alone, streaming usage increased by 71%, while broadcast and cable viewing declined by 21% and 39% respectively over the same period. The economic impact of this has followed the audience too. Industry estimates suggest streaming TV revenues grew from roughly $16 billion in 2015 to about $55 billion in 2023. While connected TV advertising was
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