This year, TikTok will surpass YouTube in terms of time spent by their respective adult users in the US. The short-video app will see 45.8 minutes per day from its average adult user, edging out YouTube, at 45.6 minutes.

Just three years ago, less than 1 in 3 (32%) US paid video subscribers paid for three or more services, per Nielsen. Now, that figure is 58%. Consumers feeling the pinch from inflation are likely to take a hard look at which services they will stick with. Netflix is set to include advertising.

Livestreaming features have been a great success for video platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and more, creating opportunities for social commerce and boosting watch time—an area in which Netflix is already ahead. A recent Nielsen report found Netflix led daily watch time across streaming and TV at 1.13 trillion minutes.

Netflix has 1.6 billion reasons to crack down on password sharing: While the exact number of sharers are hard to pin down, there’s a huge gray market the streaming giant could go after.

According to those surveyed by Advertiser Perceptions last August, AM/FM radio accounted for only 28% of US adults’ time spent with ad-supported audio—about a third of its actual share. By contrast, the perception of Spotify and Pandora was that they took up 25% and 20%, respectively, when in reality their shares were closer to 5%.

Time spent with TikTok peaked at 40.0 minutes per day for the average US adult user in 2021, below that of YouTube, at 45.0 minutes daily. TikTok will lose some of its pandemic gains this year and the next, with its time spent falling to 37.1 minutes in 2023.

But even in the oldest age bracket, over 85% of internet users had recently streamed video. Nonetheless, time spent with broadcast TV in H1 was more than half an hour greater than time spent with online TV and video, at 1 hour, 56 minutes (1:56) per day versus 1:22, respectively. However, broadcast TV no longer claimed more time than social networking, which averaged 1:57 each day.

Time spent with digital audio and video both posted annual increases. For example, in H1 2021, internet users polled in Argentina spent an average of 1:14 daily with online TV and 1:45 with music streaming. Time spent each day with broadcast TV also rose, from 2:28 to 2:34. As in past years, social media claimed a far larger slice of time than any other specific media activity, at 3:24 per day.

And in terms of time spent, online TV and video lagged far behind live TV, at an average of 46 minutes per day. The share of internet users who owned a smart TV rose by about 6 percentage points, to 49.2% in H1 2021. Digital audio content, including music and audiobooks, climbed modestly year over year to reach 63.6% of internet users in H1.

Younger adults, females, and respondents in middle- and higher-income households were more likely to view movies, TV programs, and other video content via paid-for services. Despite the rise in digital video consumption, only 35.2% of internet users owned a smart TV in H1 2021.

The share of internet users streaming free or paid-for video content jumped almost 10 percentage points in H1 2021, to 91.2%. (It should be noted that GWI included YouTube in its video category for the first time this year, and at least part of the increase is likely due to that.) Among 16- to 24-year-olds, 97.2% had watched digital video in the prior month.

Fully 95.4% of internet users ages 16 to 64 surveyed in H1 2021 had streamed video in the prior month, while 86.1% had watched live TV. The average daily time spent with digital video content (1 hour, 33 minutes, or 1:33) was also marginally greater than time spent with broadcast TV (1:29). That said, a growing number of internet users watched TV shows via time-shifted options.

Time spent streaming music averaged 1:33 per day, while video streaming occupied an average of 1:22. Both times rose by about half an hour from H1 2020. Mobile time and activities were on the rise as PC penetration slid. Smartphone ownership dropped marginally but remained high overall, at 96.9% of internet users ages 16 to 64.

However, the average time spent streaming online TV and video was less than half the time devoted to broadcast TV, at 1:03 per day. Social networking and messaging were the only media activities to rival live TV and video streaming in overall reach.

Even intensive social networking doesn’t exclude video viewing, though. As of H1 2021, nearly 97% of Indonesia’s internet users had streamed video content of some kind in the prior month, whether via free services like YouTube or paid-for sites. Online TV and video content occupied an average 1:07 per day.

In fact, broadcast TV maintained a significant advantage over digital video in terms of time spent. It accounted for an average of 2 hours, 34 minutes (2:34) per day in H1 2021, effectively 1 hour more than time spent watching TV shows or other video content online. However, digital video viewing now enjoys near-universal reach among internet users in Brazil.

In H1 2021, 93.2% of survey respondents had streamed video content of some kind in the prior month. On the other hand, digital video accounted for less than half the time spent with live TV, at 1:06 per day. Also, video streaming still correlated roughly with age; penetration was much higher among internet users ages 16 to 34 (over 96%) than among those ages 55 to 64 (82.8%).

Other TV and video viewing options were also more widespread than before. In Q1 2021, almost 70% of internet users used broadcasters’ on-demand services in the month prior. And in H1, 84.5% of respondents said they had streamed video content of some kind in the previous month—an increase of 7 percentage points compared with H1 2020. The average time spent each day with online video rose to 1:09.