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Younger people now turn on YouTube above any channel on their TV sets, according to the UK’s media watchdog, as the online platform makes further gains against traditional broadcasters.

YouTube is now the second most-watched TV service in the UK, Ofcom said on Tuesday, behind the BBC and ahead of ITV.

One in five of those born after 2010 — known as Gen Alpha — turn to YouTube first on their TV, while over 55s have also doubled their time on the service, Ofcom found. The report covers people watching YouTube on a TV, rather than on phones or computers.

YouTube channels can attract hundreds of millions of global subscribers, who sign up for free to receive alerts when new videos go online. The most popular include game show host Mr Beast, children’s animation channel Cocomelon and Bollywood music label T-Series.

Ofcom’s report will add to worries that British broadcasters, such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, are facing an existential challenge as people switch to online rivals.

This is adding to the pressure on their own digital services to succeed, as well as led to them adding content to platforms such as YouTube to try and reach younger audiences. 

The average weekly reach of the commercial public service broadcasters continued to decline in 2024, Ofcom said. The growth in viewing for broadcasters’ online video services has not offset a decline in linear TV viewing, even though their content still accounts for the majority of in-home viewing.

“Scheduled TV is increasingly alien to younger viewers, with YouTube the first port of call for many when they pick up the TV remote,” said Ofcom strategy director Ed Leighton.

Public service broadcasters are also moving to meet audiences online, “but we need to see even more ambition in this respect to ensure that public service media that audiences value survives long into the future,” he added.

The Ofcom report provides further evidence of the growing divide between younger and older audiences, with only a quarter of 16-34-year-old’s viewing now broadcaster content, compared with 90 per cent for those aged 75 and over. Less than half of 16-24-year-olds watch broadcast TV weekly, while on average they watch just 17 minutes of live TV daily. 

People spent 4 per cent less time watching broadcast TV in 2024 than the previous year, Ofcom said, with average viewing dropping to 2 hours 24 minutes a day on TV sets.

Overall — including all video content at home — people spent on average 4 hours 30 minutes per day watching in 2024, one minute less than in 2023. 

The number of UK households receiving subscription streaming services in the first quarter of 2025 continued to plateau, and at the same level as it was in 2021. Two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+, with Netflix remaining the most popular.