Of course, BBC Three is available on demand on TV, too, if you’ve got one of those fancy boxes, or you can browse on your laptop in bed… but then wouldn’t you just be using Netflix if you were on your laptop?
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The BBC has lost nearly a fifth of its youth audience following the axing of BBC Three earlier this year.
According to the figures viewing across all the BBC’s broadcast TV channels – including viewing up to a week from first broadcast on catch-up services but not devices such as tablets and mobiles – showed that the 16- to 34-year-old audience declined by 18%.
Thinkbox identified the closure of BBC3 as a broadcast TV channel as the likely cause.
ITV2 has been boosted by snapping up shows such as former BBC3 programmes Family Guy and American Dad, and having a strong second series of Love Island, while E4 has ratings stalwart Big Bang Theory.
Even though a recent report from United Kingdom commercial TV marketing body Thinkbox claims that the channel’s move to online only has contributed to a dip in overall BBC TV viewing and at launch made up 4% of BBC iPlayer requests, BBC Three says that it now reaches over 10% in some weeks, from fewer programmes, and has seen the number of its shows in BBC iPlayer’s monthly performance pack increase 50% over the same period in 2015.
“TV is thriving on all screens, but the importance of TV channels on TV sets can not be overlooked”. E4 has profited from USA acquisitions such as the reliable comedy The Big Bang Theory.
Total TV viewing (including BBC channels) decreased slightly year on year to 3 hours, 34 minutes a day – a decrease of 2 minutes a day. Commercial TV viewing saw an increase of 1 minute a day to an average of 1 hour, 49 minutes a day.
BBC Three hadn’t responded to requests for comment at press time, but BBC head of digital communications Colin Watkins tweeted that the Thinkbox stats were “skewed to meet the story”.
Meanwhile E4 also had a rise in the time spent by 16-34 year-olds watching – up four per cent. On average 86% of Jan-Jun TV viewing was live.
“Any declines for this age group are exaggerated due to the fact that non TV set viewing, which skews heavily to younger people, is not yet included in the standard measurement figures”, according to the research.
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United Kingdom figures for the first half of this year show that average commercial TV viewing on a TV set increased to 2 hours, 24 minutes a day, an increase of 1 minute on the same period in 2015 and 7 minutes more a day than a decade ago.
