Television viewing by 15-34s plunged almost 18% in first half of year

Television viewing by 15- to 34-year-olds shrank by 17.8 per cent in the Irish market in the first half of 2022, with the drop in traditional consumption among this group leading to an overall 8.1 per cent year-on-year decline in adult viewership.

The figures from marketing group Core show broadcasters are struggling to hold on to younger viewers of their linear channels, with viewership among 25- to 44-year-olds also falling 14.2 per cent.

Despite this, television advertising investment is forecast to be 19 per cent higher this year than it was in 2019, amid resurgent demand from advertisers for the relatively large audience reach it brings.

Colm Sherwin, chief digital and investment officer for Core, said it was seeing a “substantial increase” in television ad spend, with the medium acting as “the bedrock” of video campaigns for many brands. “You start with TV and you build it out from there. You don’t start with YouTube.”

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Irish adults watched an average of two hours and 40 minutes of television a day (excluding streaming) from January to June 2022. But among 25- to 44-year-olds, the daily average was a more modest 98.5 minutes, and for 15- to 34-year-olds, it was just over an hour, or about 64 minutes, Core said, citing Nielsen data compiled for ratings body TAM Ireland.

The pattern of decline in linear television viewership, which began in the years before the Covid crisis but was briefly reversed as lockdown struck in 2020, has now firmly re-established itself. Viewing in the first half of last year was 7 per cent lower compared to the same period in 2020 and also slipped below 2019 levels.

But Irish broadcasters continue to attract ever-growing rates of streaming on their players, with usage of the RTÉ Player up 60 per cent in the first half of 2022 compared to January to June 2019 and the TG4 Player seeing gains of 59 per cent.

Virgin Media’s video-on-demand streams were 28 per cent lower when comparing the two periods, but this is because the 2019 series of Love Island starring Irish participants Maura Higgins and Greg O’Shea was exceptionally popular during its June transmission dates.

Virgin’s Love Island streams rose this year compared to 2021 and the series was the most-streamed programme in the first half overall, suggesting there is much life left in the reality television phenomenon for Virgin Media Television, which imports the show under a long-term output deal with ITV Studios.

Among people aged 15-34, Love Island was the third most popular programme on linear television in the first half, behind two of Ireland’s Six Nations games. Core had “eight to 10″ clients advertising every night during the Mallorca-based show’s two-month run, Mr Sherwin said.

Across all adults, Ireland’s Six Nations game against France, shown on Virgin Media One, was the top-watched television programme in the first half, ahead of the England and Wales games, which were both on RTÉ2, with Virgin’s Ireland v Scotland game fourth. These ratings have since been overtaken in the annual chart by July’s All-Ireland football and hurling finals.

“The problem for all broadcasters is that they need to produce more and more content. They can’t just build their business on live sport,” said Mr Sherwin.

Bookings to date indicate demand for television advertising will be buoyant this autumn at least, with ad prices also rising. Core forecast earlier this year that advertising spend on television, excluding video-on-demand, will reach €276.3 million in 2022, up from €232 million in 2019.

Cheer will also be provided by the sustained growth in the use of players, helped by better and increased access through connected television screens. More than 40 per cent of broadcaster player streams are now watched on a television, with RTÉ enjoying the biggest year-on-year growth in this space. The trend is positive in part because it is likelier that more than one person is watching a television screen than would be the case with another device.

RTÉ recently agreed a new carriage deal with Sky – the largest pay-TV operator and also an active seller of TV advertising – that enables the State-owned broadcaster to serve ads through its app on the Sky Glass platform. Video-on-demand advertising remains a fraction of the total broadcasters earn from linear television, however.

Broadcasters will also face new competition for ad revenues in the Irish market as soon as 2023, with both Netflix and Disney set to introduce cheaper ad-supported subscription plans.